The Crystal Messiah
by Devanstarr
Summary: Revamped version....Chapter Nine Now up.... Zerobez seeks to free the first of his imprisoned Generals, can Seriphor or the Turtles stop him?
1. The Beginning

Note to readers: I chose to rewrite my stories because I feel that I didn't put enough depth into the true characters of the Ninja Turtles and their friends and family, not to mention among other things the villians, so this is going to be the true rewrite. What my vision was of the Crystal Messiah.

P.S I dont own the Ninja Turtles or any Archie comics represented characters. And in lieu of repeating myself this claim counts for ALL Chapters written by myself or anyone under the representation of my counsel. I understand that the TMNT is and has been copyrighted by Archie Industries. The stories herein are not an attempt to profit from copyrighted material, but only seek to entertain audiences that are willing to participate in herein reading of the story.

The following story has been fictionalized, any likenesses or situations contained herein are purely coincidental...

Sincerely: Devan Starr

The Crystal Messiah  
Chapter 1: The Beginning

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Leonardo sat in a state of intense meditation, so intense that most ninja masters could hardly keep it steady for a few seconds, unlike the prolonged period of time that Leo was holding the state in. But after all this was no simple ninja master, this was a Ninja Turtle, with years upon years of relentless training under his belt. Martial arts dominated his life and he wouldn't have it any other way.

As Leonardo sat crossed-legged, eyes closed, breathing relaxed, he felt the room refocus. It seemed to switch from being the habitat that he called his room to a dark and deep looking cave. Leo let the vision wash into his mind and sat as still as a stone. Clearer the vision focused until he was absolutely certain that it was a cave, one with barely any lighting.

'Ok, no torches, no light, and i take it i wont be done with this until i travel down the cave and find the end...' He thought to himself. With that he slowly, and silently stood up, trying to focus his vision to sight in the darkness of the cave. When his night eyes finally started working he could almost make out objects in the darkness, slowly looking around until he found the walls of the cave, and placed his left hand on it, guiding him through the tunnel.

As he walked, questions invaded his mind. 'Where am I? Where is this? Why did I recieve this vision?' But most importantly of all the question drove into his brain...'Whats at the end of this tunnel?"

And as he walked his vision of the darkness improved, causing him to be able to guide better through the dark. But it wasn't enough, as Leo took a step and was suddenly jerked downward and felt his whole body sliding down a slope at breakneck speeds.

'Shit, I have to get control here' He thought, as his whole body tried to freeze up, panic attempting to lock both his mind and his body out from each other, but Leo fought successfully for control and was able to calm his nerves as he flew down the slope. He peered into the thick darkness and tried to judge the distance from where he was to whatever he was to land on, hopeing that it wasnt a small ledge that he would miss. A vivid picture tried to flash before his eyes, a picture of him landing finally, breaking both his legs and lying on the ground, waiting to starve, but he forced it away as he felt the ground coming towards him, and as he landed he rolled his body forward to absorb the shock of the fall and keep from breaking his legs and dooming himself to death.

Leo rolled and sprang to his feet, feeling out into the darkness for any intruders that would seek to surprise and ambush him. He sighed lightly as he realized it was futile, almost like walking to the bathroom in the middle of the night with all the lights off, but at least he had some vision then. Here, he couldn't see the hand in front of his face. If anything wished to attack him, he'd be a sitting duck. Leo shook his head to himself and began walking forward again, hoping to not repeat his little speed trip he just went on.

As he walked he looked around and noticed it was getting alot easier to see things, which led him to notice that slowly light was appearing inside the areas around him. "What the hell" he muttered, and fire blasted up from the torches on the walls and lit the tunnel up. Leo sprang backwards, hands instinctively going to his swords, when he looked behind his shoulder and realized that his weapons didn't come with him on this trip. "Great, just perfect." He muttered, then began walking forward into the newly lit cave.

After about ten minutes of walking and not finding anything Leo look into the distance and noticed what looked like a door, as he walked towards it the object became alot more clear and he realized he was right, it was a door. And it was enormous. It was at least five times larger than a normal door. Almost like a loading door in the back of a factory or a store, but not quite as large and surely not as wide. As Leo examined the door he saw that at the top of it was a symbol, he couldnt quite make it out completely but it looked like a cross with two swords criss-crossing it from top to bottom, angled as an X across the symbol. But thats not what held his attention. What did catch and hold his eye there were the words carved underneath the symbol.

It was in a language that Leonardo would otherwise not understand but for some terrifying reason, he saw and read it all too fully. The words on the door chilled his spine all the way to the tip at the bottom. he rubbed at his eyes, thinking it to be some odd hallucination, but when he opened them again his terror intensified because it fully hit him that this was real, not just some bedtime nightmare. This vision was very real, and he was experiencing it for a reason.

He read the words out loud. "Here lies the light, here lies the dark, trapped together in a haze of war. Here lies the good, here lies the hate, tearing at each others souls with feverent passion. Here lies the savior and the true evil, destined to be freed again to rage across existence." Leo shook off a shiver and he reached out to touch the door. As his fingertips brushed the surface he heard it creak and he stepped back as the large door swung open, he stood there for a moment, peering into the continuation of this vision where he knew he must go.

Finally he stepped inside the door and walked slowly onwards. Suddenly the large and very slow to open door swung hard behind him and slammed shut, scaring the life out of him. He turned and swore under his breath as he realized he couldn't go back, he could only continue forward. And so he did, walking slowly, using all his skills to pick out anything suspicious, pyshical or mental, spiritual or otherwise. After about 100 yeards he came upon a dead end, or what seemed like it, he looked and before him was a wall made of what seemed to be a pure substance. He stood in front of it and slowly put his hand on it, hoping the wall would dissipate when he touched it, as the door had opened. He got no such luck however, as his hand rested flat against it. He searched all along the wall, craning his head to look at the top for any opening that would cause him to continue onward. He saw nothing, and sighing again to himself he rested his back against the wall and slid into a sitting postion, attempting to gather his bearings and think of what course of action to commit to next.

As he sat there he picked up a faint sound, what sounded like voices speaking to him. As he listened closer he realized they weren't speaking to him, but to each other, and they seemed locked into some kind of a struggle or arguement, he couldn't make out the words but from the volume, urgency and tone he could tell these voices did not agree...in fact it almost seemed as if...

Leo's eye darted quickly to the side and he rolled away from the wall and sprang to his feet as he noticed what seemed to be movement within the wall.

"Thats crazy" he muttered, "That cant be possible that someone can move inside a wall of this stuff." And as his eyes searched he once again saw nothing, no movement, no motions, nothing. He leaned closer to look at the wall, his instincts warning him to stray away from it. He came inches away from the wall as he realized he could see inside it...

WHACK! A hand slammed against the wall, flattening the palm across it, as Leo stumbled backwards and fell onto his backside. He looked up in terror as a figure stood before him, floating inside this wall. "Who the hell are you?" He asked "What do you want? Why have you brought me here?"

_I brought you here, Leonardo, for one reason and one reason only. To set me free..._

Leo shook his head and looked as he realized that the figure wasnt moving inside the wall, it was speaking directly to his mind. "Set you free? Why? How? Why should i set you free?"

_Because Leonardo, there is not much time left. He is almost fully awake and when he awakens he will tear through the boundaries, and will not stop until he has eliminated all life from this world._

"Who? Who is this that you speak of?" Leo stood and said, as he stared in amazement at this figure in the wall.

_Many have called him the true evil, a name befitting this creature. He knows only anger and hatred and must be stopped, only i can do this, but i must be freed by her._

"By who?" Leo pleaded. "Who are you talking about?"

_ You must bring her to me Leonardo...she is the only way to stop the terror from living once again. Now awaken and bring her to me!_

Suddenly a brilliant white light flashed into the room, covering all and Leo shut his eyes tightly to block it out, but it invaded through his eyelids, blinding him. And as fast it appeared, it dissapeared as well, and when Leo opened his eyes he saw that he was inside his bedroom in New York City, facing his wall sitting in the exact same position he was in before the vision hit him.

'What the hell was that?' leo thought. 'And who did he want me to bring to him?' Leo continued deep in thought until he heard a knock on his room door. "Come in" he said, and looked up as Michaelangelo walked into the room.

"Hey bro, you ready for the party?" he said, his playfulness showing through to the end.

"Party?" leonardo asked quizically. "What party?"

"What, dude, did you forget? The one year anniversary of meeting Ninjara and Oyuki, duh." Mikey said, rolling his eyes. "Did your brain go spazzing into space on me Leo? I mean come on we've been planning this party for like two weeks now"

"No, Mikey. Sorry i forgot, i've just been meditating and it's tired me out a little bit."

Mikey's mood suddenly went somber and he asked. "Are you allright bro? Everything ok?"

Leo nodded his head, forcing a smile onto his face. "Yeah, never better brother. let's go get the party started." With that Leonardo jumped up and walked with his brother into the living room, where the rest of family and friends stood awaiting him...

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	2. Messages in Blood

The Crystal Messiah  
Chapter 2: Blood Messages

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"Hey Leo, about time, we almost started the party without you." Rapheal said. "And to think you would have missed all the cake and ice cream." Leo looked at all of his friends and family gathered there. There was Rapheal, who was standing beside his girlfriend Ninjara, who seemed to be preoccupied with finishing the icing on the cake. Helping her with that was April O' Neil, the newsreporter and long-time friend to the reptilian teenagers. Michaealangelo sat on the couch with Oyuki Mamisha, who they had meet a year ago in Japan, along with Ninjara, when their friends Chu Hsi and Fu Sheng had been kidnapped by a mutant dog named Chein Khan. Donnie sat in the living room playing Scrabble with Master Splinter, who seemed to be missing the point of the game. Leo chuckled inwardly and thought 'He's as wise as anyone i've ever met, but when it comes to board games i think he's lacking a bit in the brain cells.'

Splinter turned toward Leo and spoke softly. "Are you allright my son?" to which Leo replied. "Yes, Master. I just feel a bit worn out is all." Mikey grinned and said "Worn out? Whatever wears you out bro? You're constantly on the move. It's like dealing with a hyperactive six year old." Leo shot Mikey a look that could kill if looks were lethal enough to do so. Sometimes Mikey can be the greatest person in the world to have around, but at this moment he was more of an annoyance to Leonardo than a blessing. Oyuki pushed Mike lightly and said "Mikey sometimes your mouth can get you into alot of trouble you know that?" Mike smiled. "Yep, good thing i know how to get out of trouble pretty easily." With that he chuckled and Leo went to sit by Donatello and Splinter.

Splinter still looked to his son out of the corner of his eye. He could tell his son was hiding something, but he was not sure just what. Leo's countenance had gone from one of what seemed to be an always proud and energetic leader to an over-abundance of exhuastion, almost as if Leo was on the verge of collapse. "Leonardo, are you sure everything is allright my son?"

Leo tried his best to fake a smile and said "Of course master, why wouldn't it be? Just fine as wine." Donatello shot his brother a puzzled look as he spoke. "You do look like you need some down time though bro, you sure your not catching something?" Leo quickly looked to Donny and replied. "Yeah that's probably it, just coming down with a bug or something." Donny nodded his head in understanding and said "Well we got some cold pills in the bathroom if you want me to go get you some." "Sure, Donny, thanks." Leo said.

As Donatello went into the bathroom to get the medicine Splinter leaned into his sons ear and said "I think you should come with me my son." Leonardo wanted to protest, but could only nod and slowly stand up to follow his master and the man he called his father. They walked past the group and into Splinters study, when they had both walked through the door Splinter turned and shut it softly. "Tell me, my son, what troubles you? You look as if you have not slept in days, your last state of meditation must have took some kind of toll on you, perhaps I can be of some assistance."

Leo sighed as he hung his head low. Splinter gently put a furry hand under it and raised his pupil and sons head so that they made eye contact. Leo could no longer supress the secret and he told Splinter everything, from the cave to the person in the wall as well as the message that creature commanded. Splinter sighed softly, seeming deep in thought. "So you say this creature in your vision wants you to bring someone to this wall?"

"That's just it master, i'm not sure where the wall is or who he wants brought there. And i'm not even sure that it's all real. It could be my mind playing tricks on me, i just...dont know sensei. I want to believe that its fake and that its a one time bad dream but...i just cant believe it."

Splinter sat down crossed legged and bade his son to do the same, which he did. Splinter sighed again and spoke. "Then we shall concentrate and see if we cannot have this vision together." Leonardo nodded and closed his eyes, attempting to go back into the deep meditative state that took him to this vision. As he closed his eyes and relaxed his breathing he sensed his masters breathing and his aura getting stronger. Suddenly Leo felt as if the whole room was melting. 'Please let this be it, let this be it' He thought, as he let whatever it was overtake them both. Finally when he felt the waviness dissipate he opened his eyes and saw his master sitting in front of him, but splinter was no longer meditating, he was looking around with wonder...

It seemed they had succeeded in going back to the cave...

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"What the hell are they doing?" Raphael grumbled, "Taking a nap?" He was never one for being patient. In fact he was the quickest to action, unlike his other three brothers. Whenever any danger or need for violence presented itself, Raphael was always the first to jump in. He didn't like thinking about his actions too much, he learned that in a battlefield thinking too much can get you killed, and get you killed quick. So he relied on his natural instincts to win battles and save the day. But sometimes it was his quick temper and hot headedness that got him into trouble. Too many times would he fight with leo about orders from either his brother or his master, with Raph wanting to do his own thing and Leo acting how splinter taught him to a T. It could be annoying sometimes.

Take this situation, for example. Not only was Leo missing from the party now, it seemed he took Splinter along with him...and Raphael's natural instincts were telling him something was wrong and to bust down that door. He wasn't sure what exactly was wrong but it just didn't feel right to him...he felt as if something bad was about to take place, and he didn't want to be there when it happened.

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"So, my son. It seems as if you were correct and this vision was real. It must have some validity to it if we seem to be able to share the vision together." Splinter looked around into the semi-darkness of the cave, now lit slightly by a few torches on the wall. He looked to Leo and spoke. "My son, it seems as if we must take the oath of this cave towards the end, I must admit i am a bit anxious to see this figure if that is what we will see at the end. My curiousity to behold this creature is peaked."

"Well that's fine with me Master, but if it was up to me I'd rather not see it ever again." They began walking into the cave. "Let's hope we don't run into that steep downslope again, I think I could handle it but i dunno about you Master." With that Splinter chuckled and spoke. "Just because I am old in my ways, my son does not mean i can't handle a small incline." Leo smiled a bit and answered. "No, Master this is no incline, it's a mountain slope the way it goes..." Leo stopped speaking and stood staring straight ahead as he said "Wait a minute...this wasn't here before."

They both looked ahead to a staircase that lead up almost 200 yards ahead. "That's really creepy." Leo said. "Indeed, my son." Splinter replied. "But it seems we must take the pathway up to its destination." With that they began climbing the steps upwards, not knowing what lay ahead...

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"Ok, that's it, i'm going in there and yanking them both out." Raph stood up and started to walk to the room where Splinter and Leonardo were experiencing their vision. "I'm sick of all this waiting shit and I'm not doing it no more, were gonna get this party started." Ninjara grabbed her boyfriends arm as he tried to storm to the room and said "Raph wait, give them a few more minutes, I dont think its anything serious, or else they would have yelled for us, don't you think?"

Raph looked at his girlfriend with a look that seem to burn through solid ice. "Yeah but what if they can't yell? What if their in trouble?" Even before the words came out of his mouth he knew that was a stupid question. Donny beat him to the explanation, though. "Right Raph, someone snuck in through the front door, got past all of us, and opened the door without us seeing and walked in and attacked them both without making a sound, were good Raph, but no one's THAT good."

Ninjara wrapped her arms around Raph's neck and kissed his nose, that always calmed him down during his hot- headed moments. "Listen love, give them a couple more minutes or at least send someone else to check before you go booting down doors, ok?"

Oyuki stood up, stretched and said. "I'll go see what they're up to Raph, and if anything wrong, then I'LL yell for you ok? Then you can kick down as many doors as you like ok? Hell kick in the wall even if it makes you happy." With that Oyuki smiled and walked towards Splinter's study...

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Breathing heavy, Leonardo said "If I ever climb another step again in my life I'll scream." "Indeed" Splinter replied. They had made it to the top of the stairs and stood there both panting, waiting for their lungs to finally stop burning. After a few moments the dull pain subsided and they were able to breathe normally once again. Leo looked ahead and said "yeah, we're definitely not in the same vision here."

Ahead of them was level ground of tile formed into a wide circle. In the middle of this circle stood a fountain, almost like a enormous birdbath. Leo walked to it slowly, hesitant of what it meant for this new item to appear so suddenly in this vision. As he drew closer he felt his master at his back. "Careful, leonardo. We do not yet know this entity's intentions. It may wish us more harm than we know. We are not yet sure so use caution."

"Yes, master." Leo replied, but his interest was more on the fountain than anything else at the moment. It was made of pure gold, something Leo had never seen before in his life. Sure he had seen plenty of props like this on TV, but never something this real this close to him. He reached out to touch it and gently laid a hand on the fountain, afraid that he would somehow sully it just by making contact. As he laid his hand on it his mind opened up and he saw many different visions of many different things, but few he understood. What he did understand terrifyed him, he saw blood, war, chaos, men rushing down battlefields screaming, army's slamming together in battle, men gutting each other like cattle, all for their beliefs or who ruled them...

He saw giant battleships in the sky, shooting lasers at each other in what seemed like something out of a science fiction movie. Millions of fighters jets dogfighting and igniting in flames as they shot each other out of the air. He saw massives ships traveling through space, orbiting around planets, he saw people burning alive, mothers, children, fathers, sons. All slaughtered, their killers standing over them singing songs and praising their victories. It horrifyed him to no ends, he wished he could rip his eyes out of his head and scream until the darkness swallowed him whole, but he had no strength. His final vision took him into the middle of a battlefield on the land in front of what seemed to be a Black Tower, millions of men adorned in armor and suits battled in a momumental struggle, but his vision took him to only two. As the giant ships raged on, burning each other out of space, and the soldiers on the ground fought for dominance, he watched these two men fight to the death.

One was about six feet tall, his hair long past his shoulders to the middle of his back, swung in the wind as he attacked this other figure with his sword. His weapon was about 10 feet long. Leo had figured that with a weapon of that length that the figure would have had a hard time controlling it, moving about clumsily, but this was not the case. As he watched the man moved with such grace in his attacks that leonardo stood in awe. His attacks switched speeds and strokes of power so fluently that Leo understood that this figure had seen enough bloodshed and enough wars to last a milion lifetimes. The figure wore no shirt or suit of armor unlike the others battling, so Leo could see that this person was well trained, enough that it seemed his body was all muscle. It only added to the power of his attacks as he swung his sword at uncanny speeds, switching between one hand and two, moving his body just enough to put the muscle behind the swings he used to attack his enemy. As he watched the grey haired figure seemed almost calm, serene.

The same could not be said of his enemy. This other figure terrifyed Leonardo. This man stood almost the same height as his opponent, with spikey black hair, his weapon wasnt one of those swords that his foe held but a sword that looked almost 6 feet wide, and about 7 feet long. His sword was huge, it was impossible to figure out how this man could swing this gigantic sword that was almost three times as wide as he was. It appeared to weigh at least a literal ton. But he swung it just as fast and just as limber as his opponent. But the look on this mans face was full of nothing but contempt and rage, his whole body strained with the torrent of hatred and anger, the blood vessels showing through his arms at each swing and through his neck, almost as if they were about to pop. The man snarled at each and every swing, as if exerting that much power could strike his enemies down quicker. He was a tornado of negative emotions and he was ready to kill anyone who stood before him and fought against him.

Leonardo was swept up in this battle, his emotions raging as he turned slowly in a full circle and watched all these soldiers battle each other. As he stood he watched a group of fighters run after a smaller group. Leo saw them running right towards him and he braced to roll out of the way, but they ran straight through him before he could move, as if he was invisible, leading leo to the belief that this was not happening at that moment, that it had happen or was yet to happen. Leo looked around and searched for his master but did not see him. He turned around to look at the two fighters battling with each other but when he turned he felt a hand on his shoulder pull him back, yelling his name.

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Oyuki knocked on the door lightly and listened for any answer. She raised one finger to the group and slowly and carefully creeped into the room, trying to not make any noise and disturbed anyone. She looked around and saw both Splinter and Leo sitting crossed-legged with their heads down and eyes closed, she leaned in and realized that their breathing was steady, but not shallow, so they didn't seem to be in any immediate danger. She sighed lightly and started to stand up, but she stopped when she heard leo say something under his breath. She leaned back down, trying to wait for him to repeat his words or say something else, when she noticed a single tear run out of his eye and down his cheek.

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Leo felt himself being torn from the battlefield and as he watched the scene switched from the battle back to the cave where they both stood. He landed on his rear and scrambled to his feet, his head darting to the side. As he looked he saw his master looking to him with great concern. "My son, what happened?" Splinter spoke. "You held the fountin with such a grip that I felt as if you were in danger, so i had to pull you back."

"Master, you wouldn't believe it, I saw a great battlefield, millions of people fightign, armies clashing, but then i was taken to where two solitary men fought, they seemed to be stronger than all the soldiers on the field, and they fought with such excellence and grace that I'd never seen." Leo recounted the vision of the war to Splinter, as he patiently stood there listening. Finally Splinter spoke. "I believe that one f those two men must be the ones that sent the original vision to you. Perhaps they are trying to communicate something to us. but I still do not know exactly what."

Suddenly they felt a third presence in the room with them. _Welcome back, leonardo. And I see you have brought along your master as well. I apolgize for the scene you just witnessed, but it was necessary to show you the cause of why you are here. I cannot explain just yet, I don't have much time left in this spiritual form. All i can say is that it is of vital importance that you bring the chosen here to me to set me free, or else your world, and all the worlds in the galaxy shall suffer torments and horrors the likes never seen or imagined._

"Who are you?" Leo asked. "Who do you want me to bring to you? I just dont understand, what do you want with us?" Leonardo stood speaking to the spirit they could not see, but could only feel swirling all around them. it seemed that the ghost meant them no harm, but they still could not be sure of it's intention or what it planned on doing.

_You must bring the girl to me, only she can set me free and keep the events of this war from hapening again, this time i cannot defeat him, but with her help I can stop the true evil from conquer the glaxy and keep everyone from suffering at his vile hands._

"Ok, lets assume for a minute that I believe you. I don't even know who you want brought to you. And why should we set you free if it will cause something like that?" Leonardo felt his patience wearing thin. Splinter finally spoke up and said. "Whoever you are we need more information from you before we are to decide whether or not we want to put someone in harms way. We must know who you speak of."

_Look into the waters of this pool and your question will be answered, old one. But be prepeared, you may not like what you find out. Like I said before, only she can free me, and only with her help can I defeat this entity that wishes to destroy all life. I will not risk the deaths of billions just because your hesitant about your knowledge of me, time is of the essence, look into the fountain._

With that, they both slowly gazed into the pool and saw a your girl with black hair. Leo looked and thought to himself how familiar this girl looked. But he could not quite place where he had seen her before. But suddenly the girl turned her head around and with horror, leo finally understood who the entity was speaking of.

Because the girl turned around, and both leonardo and Splinter were staring into the reflection of Oyuki Mamisha's face...

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	3. Nightmares and Decisions

The Crystal Messiah  
Chapter 3: Nightmares and Decisions

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"No! No fucking way!" Leonardo shouted. "No way am I bringing her to you. I will not under any circumstances endanger the lives of one of my friends. You can forget it." Leonardo was pacing left and right with an anxiousness never seen by either his brothers or his master. "For one we don't even know what you intend to do if she does set you free. We could be destroying this whole world, or killing her, or putting not only her but all of us in mortal danger, and I REFUSE to be responsible for that."

_ Yes, Leonardo, you have a right to be suspicious, that I understand. I could be commiting her to her doom, so you have no reason to trust me. But you must understand something as well, without her not only would the earth suffer, but all planets in existence. If I am not set free then this monster will ravage and destroy all that lives and breathes. It is imperative that I be set free to keep these events from becoming a reality._

"Why should we trust you?" Leo spoke. "I just...don't understand. Why her? Why is she so important? Isn't there any one else that could help you?"

_No, Leonardo, there is no one else with the power to break down this wall. Only she is the key to stopping the massacre of existence and all with it. But not only that, there are other reasons why she must set me free._

"What reasons are those? Tell us please." Splinter begged. "Before we can make our decision on what course of action to take next we must be more informed than what we are now."

_Very well, I will tell you. As we speak right now her dreams are being haunted by this monster, every time she sleeps she sees not only what you saw Leonardo, but also the destruction of millions of planets by my enemy...which is the future of existence if I am not freed. It haunts her to the point that she refuses to rest. She has not told anyone of this because she wishes not to worry any of you. She's headstrong and thinks that she can make her nightmares go away of her own will. Only when she sets me free from this prison of crystal will her dreams stop haunting her. If she chooses not to, she will ultimately take her own life to keep these visions from appearing again._

"How can this be true? She doesn't even look like she's been refusing sleep or anything of the sort." Leo said. "She's in the lair right now and she doesn't seem to be in any kind of danger."

_If you don't believe me, Leonardo, all you have to do is ask her. Watch her carefully and you will understand. Her movements, her actions, her attitude and behavior, her reaction to that very question, watch it all and you will see that I speak the truth._

Splinter laid a hand on his sons shoulder and spoke. "He's telling the truth Leonardo. It's something I have recently come to notice, she seems to be slipping away from reality slowly. I did not understand before what troubled her but now that light has been shed on her affliction, I feel that perhaps this creature means her, and us, no harm."

Leo shook his head and rubbed his eyes with his hand. He felt tired, tired to the point of becoming insane. He was sick of it all already, the visions, the sudden responsibility, and the fact that he may have to put someone's life, someone he loved and cared about, at risk. Leo was suddenly compelled by an urge to scream until he could yell no more, to lash out at this monster that threatened them all, to find it and wring it's neck until it begged for mercy, then snap it in half.

_Yes, Leonardo, you understand my hatred towards this creature. I fought with it for many of your years, it is a long story to tell, and not enough time at the moment to tell it in. I must send you back now, my powers are weakening. But do me this one favor. Converse with her, and I will promise you she will decide to come free me, if only to stop the visions and nightmares from haunting her ever again. I must go, please stay safe Leonardo and Splinter. And remember my words._

With that the enviroment around them both began to blur rapidly, until it dissolved and they found themselves back in Splinters room. Leo slowly opened his eyes and looked around. He saw Splinters bookshelves, filled with books on ninjitsu, religion and other things of those areas. He looked to his left and saw Oyuki kneeling beside him, a worried look on her face. He tried to force a smile as he said "Hey, what's up?"

She spoke. "Everyone was worried about you two, you dissapeared on us. Raph was gonna kick the door in, but i volunteered to check on you. Thought maybe you guys were in trouble or something."

"No, child, everything is allright, for the moment." Leonardo turned to look and saw Splinter sitting in front of him as he was before the vision appeared. "But pardon us a moment, Oyuki, we must speak with you." With that Splinter stood up, stretched and walked to the door, leaning into the hallway. When he looked he saw everyone gathered around the side of the door, listening. Rapheal seemed ready to pounce at the first sign of any trouble. Splinter smiled inwardly as he thought 'My son, always ready for anything' With that, he spoke to the group. "My apologizies for dissapearing from the party, but something urgent came up that myself and Leonardo had to take care of."

"What is it Sensei? Is everything ok?" Donatello spoke worringly. Splinter chuckled lightly. "Everything is allright Donatello, but please, by all means give us a few minutes, we need to speak to Oyuki about something. Please go back into the den and wait for us, we wont be long, I promise."

Rapheal sighed as he realized his brother and master were allright, but was worried at the same time. "What's up with Oyuki, master? Is she allright?" Splinter smiled. "Yes my son, she's fine, just came in to check on us. I will tell you all about it in a moment, but for now, please go and await us."

Raph, Donny, and Mikey bowed. "Yes Master." They spoke. And with that the group slowly walked back into the front of their sewer home. Splinter walked back into his room and closed the door behind him. "What's going on guys?" Oyuki said. "Why do I suddenly get the feeling that not everything is allright like you said?" Splinter sat down beside her and took her hands into his, holding them gently. "Oyuki, if i asked you a question, can you be honest with the both of us?" He said.

She turned her head and looked between both Leonardo and Splinter, who both had very worried expressions on their faces. She was starting to not like this more and more. "Yeah, I don't see why I would lie to you guys." Splinter nodded and sighed lightly. Oyuki suddenly had a bad feeling about all of this. "What's going on? Seriously you guys are scaring the hell out of me right now." Splinter looked at her and spoke. "Oyuki, we have been experiencing something...unnatural." Oyuki laughed nervously. "Ok, I dunno if I can help much but I'll try I suppose."

Splinter sighed again and continued. "The problem is, child, that these events seem to circle around you, and you alone. So I must ask you something, and please be truthful to us." Oyuki was starting to get very impatient. "Just tell me whats going on already, what's up?" Splinter braced himself for the answer to the question and said. "Are you having nightmares?"

Oyuki jerked back like she had been shot and pulled her hands away from Splinter's. "I..uh.." She stammered. But looking at both of them she realized that they already knew the answer to that. She hung her head and sighed. Splinter gently put his finger under her chin and lifted it up until she looked into his eyes. Leonardo and Splinter both realized that she had started crying...

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Donatello paced around the lair, worrying more and more about what could be wrong. "What do you suppose they want to talk to Oyuki about?" Rapheal sat watching his brother walk a line into the floor and his frustration finally grew rampart. "Ok, look bro, sit down before you fall through the floor man. I hate to say it but we have to wait until they all three come back out and find out whats going on. Ok?"

Donatello forced himself to sit down, hands under his chin, thinking to himself at a rapid pace. "I hope everything's allright guys, seriously."

Michaelangelo shook his head and spoke. "I wouldn't worry too much bro, they're still alive, and they're not hurt at all so maybe it's not as bad as everyone thinks. I'm sure eveything will turn out fine."

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"Oyuki, please, we have to know. What's going on? Are you really having bad dreams?" Oyuki couldn't answer Leo's question, she could only slowly nod her head. Tears slowly ran down her cheeks as she tried to speak, but she couldn't find the words.Leo reached out and gently put a hand on her shoulder. "Oyuki, I understand how bad these dreams are..."

"No, you don't, Leo. None of you do." Oyuki finally said. "You don't understand what I see, what I feel, the horror of all the things that haunt me. I see thousands of people dying, burning alive as planets are destroyed, screaming for help, but not getting anything. I see mothers and their children. They're...god...they're tied to stakes and gutted, or their throats are slit. Some are even burned alive, screaming with pain. It's horrible...my god it's so horrible. I wake up at night screaming because all I see anymore is death and destruction. I want it to stop, I need it to stop, it's gotten so bad I've almost taken my own life just to make it stop."

Leo shuddered at that thought of her killing herself. "Oyuki, no. That's not the answer." Oyuki turned on him and said "Then what the fuck is the answer Leo? Because I can't go on like this. I can't watch this stuff in my dreams anymore, it's affecting my life, my work, I havn't slept in almost two weeks now because of all of this."

Splinter, who had sat silently, letting Oyuki pour out all her emotions to them, finally spoke. "My child, their is an answer, a way to stop these dreams from haunting you again." With that Oyuki looked to him. "What is it? What will make it stop? I have to know." Splinter raised a hand and spoke. "We have been visited by this entity that claims to be the only way of stopping these dreams from happening. A Creature in some sort of barrier wall. We don't know who he is, or what his intentions are, but we know that he wants us to bring you to him, to somehow set him free of the prison he's trapped in. We are hesitant to go along with this if it puts you at any risk, but he claims that if we do not these dreams will continue to haunt you."

Splinter continued. "We had been experiencing one of these vision when you walked in to check on us, child. Leo saw much of what you saw, and he does understand how you feel. He saw a battle between millions of warriors, but the vision took him to only two. We believe that one of these beings is the one behind all of this, the visions, and perhaps your dreams. We have decided to leave the decision to you."

"We can search for him and set him free, but there is the risk that this is all a plot to destroy us all. Or it could be the truth, either way we walk into this with much risk and possible danger ahead. We can go looking for him, or we can figure out another way to stop these dreams from happening. The decision, I leave up to you child."

Oyuki sighed. "I don't think there is another way, Splinter. As much as it worries me, I want to find him. We have to go looking for this thing. I have to make these dreams stop. I don't know what waits for us, but I HAVE to take that risk, do you understand? We have to go."

Splinter nodded his head slowly and spoke. "Then we should prepare, the first problem that confronts us is where to start looking for him." Oyuki shook her head and spoke. "That won't be a problem." Splinter raised an eyebrow. "Oh? Tell us my child, what do you know of the location of our new friend?"

Oyuki sighed and said. "He's in the Tibetan mountains, at the crystal palace." Leo jerked. "How do you know that?" Oyuki looked to him and said "everytime I have one of these dreams I see that palace. I've never been there but i know where it is and what it is, that's one of the things that scares me the most."

Splinter closed his eyes and spoke. "Then to the crystal palace of my old master the Dhali Lama we must go. Perhaps we should go inform everyone else of these events and prepare them for the journey." With that, Oyuki, Splinter, and Leonardo all stood up and began walking into the den to let everyone know what was going on.

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	4. Travel and Visions

The Crystal Messiah  
Chapter 4: Travel and Visions

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Splinter, Leonardo, and Oyuki all walked into the den of the lair, where everyone was awaiting them. Raphael was the first to speak. "About freaking time you guys came out of there. What's going on, what's happening?" Splinter raised a hand and spoke softly. "My son, please, have some patience, and we will explain all that has transpired."

April O' Neil looked at Leo, then at Splinter, then to Oyuki, who was burning a hole into the floor with her eyes. She suddenly grew very worried. She walked over to Oyuki and stood by her best friend. Oyuki looked up at her and April could see that the young woman was pained by something. "What's wrong Oyuki? What's happening?" Oyuki sighed and said. "I'm not one hundred percent sure yet, Ape. But it's not good, I know that much."

Splinter beckoned everyone to sit down, which they all finally did. As he went into the detail of explaining what all had happened, from the visions to Oyuki's nightmares to the decision to go to Tibet and confront the problem, the group grew more and more somber.

At last, when Splinter had finished speaking, April looked to her friend and said. "Is this really true Oyuki? Why didn't you come to me and tell me about all this when it started?" Oyuki looked her in the eyes and said. "Would you really have believed me?" "Absolutely" April spoke. "You know i would have." Oyuki nodded. "And you believing me, would that have changed the nightmares from happening? I didn't say anything because I didn't need anyone baby-sitting me because they were worried. It wouldn't have stopped these images from invading my head so I didn't see the use in bothering you with it all.

April looked shocked. "Oyuki, you know none of this stuff would have bothered me, I'm not like that, and you know it." Oyuki just shook her head and suddenly walked out the door into the sewers. April went to follow after but Raphael stopped her. "I'll go talk to her and see if I can help any." With that Rapheal followed the path that Oyuki took out the door, leaving everyone else to stand there.

Splinter nodded and spoke. "We should all prepare to leave. It saddens me that our anniversary of meeting both Oyuki and yourself, Ninjara was interrupted by this." She shook her head and said "Don't worry about it, I'm not much of a party person anyways." She walked to her and Raph's room and closed the door, as everyone took off to their seperate rooms to prepare for the trip.

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Oyuki ran through the sewers as fast as she could. 'Why me?' She thought 'Why the hell have this happen to me? I suppose I deserve it, I guess it's just my lot in life to catch all the bad luck. First I had a mother that didn't give a shit enough about me living on the street when I ran off, then I had to go and get kidnapped by Chien Khan, almost killed, finally got away, now I'm being haunted by these stupid nightmares. Christ this sucks.'

Oyuki kept running until her lungs burned, then she finally started to slow down, then eventually stopped. Wheezing for air she bent over and began having a coughing fit. She let her chest constrict and welcomed the pain as she hacked repeatedly. After it had finally subisded she muttered to herself. "Goddamn cigarettes. I suppose that's something else i deserve as well."

She jumped as a voice spoke out of the darkness. "And I suppose you believe that you deserve all this bad shit happening to you?" She spun and spoke. "Raph, what the hell are you doing following me? Just leave me alone. I want to be alone."

Raphael stepped out of the shadows. "Yeah, I understand that but I thought maybe I could help, ya know?" Oyuki rolled her eyes and replied. "Unless you know how to make visions dissapear then you won't be able to do squat." Raph stood there silently a moment. Oyuki just stared at him. Finally he spoke.

"Look, i can't imagine to know what your going through." He raised a hand to silence her as she tried to interrupt. "BUT, I do know that everyone back there cares for you, they want to help you, to be there for you. We all love you Oyuki, and we don't want to see anything bad happen to you, ya know?"

Oyuki looked at the ground. "I know, Raph, and I understand that, I just don't want to pull you guys into my own personal nightmares. They're horrible, you know? No one should see or experience what I've seen and experienced." Raph nodded as she went on. "Just all the things i see in my dreams. I want this to be over as quick as possible, I want to go back to having a semi-normal life with my not-so-normal friends, ya know?"

Raphael chuckled and spoke. "Not-so-normal huh? I can see where you would want that, and we want the same. Trust me when I tell you this, O. We don't want to have to go through with this at all. But we all will because it will stop you from suffering. We'd all give our lives to protect each other, as I know you would to protect any one of us."

Oyuki stood there, head hung low and spoke. "Yeah your right Raph, but I just...I just don't want to push my problems on you guys. I don't want any of my friends and people I care about getting hurt. That would be worse than any nightmare that I could have."

Raph nodded. "I understand Oyuki, but you can't do this alone ya know? We want to protect you." He stood right next to her. "Will you let us bear this with you? Let us help, O. Please."

She sighed and turned towards him. "Yeah, Raph. As much as I'm afraid, your right. I can't do this alone. And I don't want to. I need you guys with me, I wouldn't have it any other way." Raph smiled and said "I'm gonna go back to the lair and start packing. If you need anything just ask, ok?"

She nodded. "Ok." he started to walk back into the shadows, until she spoke. "Hey Raph." He stopped. "Thanks. For everything. And tell April that I went home to get my stuff ready"

He turned, half hidden in the darkness. "Of course. That's what friends are for. See ya in a bit." With that he dissapeared into the shadows, leaving Oyuki alone. She stood there for a moment, then finally turned and climbed up the ladder into the street, heading back to her apartment.

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Raph walked into the living room of his home and saw April sitting on the couch. "How's she doing?" she asked. Raph shook his head. "Not too well, but I think with having us to lean on and talk to...she'll be allright. It just worries me that the future might be a hell of alot darker for her than the present."

April nodded her head. "I understand what you mean Raphael. I worry every day and night about her, I mean she grew up with virtually no family, no friends, no one to depend on but herself. She's always lived that way until she met us. Being homeless on the streets kinda made her keep her emotions and feelings to herself, and that's something that will hinder us in the end."

Raph could only stand there, staring at the ground. He shook his head. "Damn it, this isn't fair, it's not right, for both her and for us." Raphael looked up as a soothing voice spoke. "What you say is true my son, but it seems we cannot stop these events from happening." Splinter stood before them both, walking stick in hand, and as Raph noticed, he seemed to lean on that stick and depend on it more and more as the days went by.

Splinter closed his eyes and sighed. "But what we must do...what we can do best is be there for her, protect her as best we can. But i fear that it may be up to only Oyuki to pull her dreams together and stop the nightmares. Hopefully we will find the crystal wall in time to stop these horrid visions from becoming reality."

April sighed and spoke. "I'm going back up to her apartments to make sure she's allright and see if I can help out. Do you need anything while I'm up there?"

Raph nodded. "Yeah. get ahold of Casey, he might want in on this." April replied. "We sure we want him with us? He's a great guy and all, he's just a bit of a stubborn headed pig when it comes to some things."

Splinter smiled. "That's just Casey, April. I agree with Raphael, he would be of much help to us, especially if we were involved in a battle, which I believe will be a certainty, given the situation."

April rolled her eyes. "Allright, I suppose I'll give him a call, but I still think it would do more harm than good."

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"Stupid prementions, stupid dreams, stupid visions. I can tell you what to do with them damn it." Oyuki muttered. She was still angry, or maybe it was just the lack of sleep attacking her at the moment. She wasn't quite sure which. Either way, she was ready to explode.

"I swear when I let this guy loose I'm gonna puch him in the mouth once just for putting me through this shit." She sighed and sat on her bed, a half filled suitcase full of clothes and other articles sitting beside her. She pushed it off the bed and laid on her back, rubbing her eyes and sighing again. As she laid there, trying to maintain her calm, she looked around and noticed that the room somehow looked different. She couldn't quite put her finger on it but it definitely looked different. She looked around, trying to find any anomalies.

She looked from wall to wall, poster to poster. The only thing she could notice different is that her H.I.M. poster plugging their new album looked a darker shade of blue, but she was sure that wasn't what was wrong. She looked from her closet door to her clock on the nightstand, which read at 3:45 p.m.. "Well it's not that." She muttered.

She looked at her bedroom door. Then she looked to the floor and finally noticed that the hall light looked to be turned off. "But I thought I left the light on." She said under her breath. "April, are you here?" She yelled. And getting no response, she reached for the doorknob, and turning it with a low clicking sound, she swung the door open slowly.

Suddenly she felt herself pulled through the door, and had to throw her hands out in front of her quickly to keep from landing on her face first. As she hit the ground hard she heard the door slam shut behind her. She cursed as she stood and looking ahead, realized that she was in a cave. "Great, absolutely perfect. Now I'm dreaming again." Oyuki shook her head and rubbed her eyes. She thought to herself 'Can this day get any worse?'

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April walked up the stairs to her apartment that her and Oyuki shared, she reached into her pocket and got her house keys, and unlocking the door, she walked in. As she closed the door she suddenly felt odd, and quickly looking around, she was almost certain that she was being watched by someone...or something.

"Get a grip, girl. It's just your goosebumps messing with you." But as much as she tried to shake it off, she couldn't. She couldn't get rid of the feeling that someone was very close. She slowly walked down the hallway and noticed the light in Oyuki's room was on. She decided to slowly open the door and check in on her good friend.

She peeped through the slightly opened doorway and saw legs dangling off the end of the bed. Opening the door even further, she realized that it was Oyuki's legs dangling. She was asleep. April bit her lip softly and considered waking her up in case of another nightmare. But she decided to leave her be, if not for only a few minutes. "I better let her sleep." April said to herself. "She needs it right now."

She closed the door softly, keeping a sharp ear open in case she heard anything strange happening in Oyuki's room. Not hearing anything for the moment, she softly walked into the kitchen and picked up the phone.

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Oyuki had been walking through this cave for what felt like an eternity, but surprisingly she didn't feel tired whatsoever. In fact the farther she walked into the abyssmal darkness of this tunnel, the stronger, more rested, and less afraid she became.

Finally, after what seemed like miles of walking through the vision. She came upon the fountain that Leonardo and Splinter had seen in the vision of their own. Only this one differed in the fact that it had three levels of baths in it. As the water ran from the top to the middle, then to the bottom, she stood admiring it. She reached out to it and let the cool water run over her cupped hand. "Wow, this is amazing. I've never seen anything so...beautiful."

"_Neither have I_" A voice spoke in the darkness. Oyuki quickly spun to find where the voice was coming from. "Who's there?" She asked. "Who are you?" She quickly looked around in all directions, from behind her, to the sides, to directly in front of her, where she could make out a shilouette half hidden in the shadows. "It's you, isn't it? You're the one that keeps sending me these...these nightmares aren't you?" Oyuki took a step towards the figure, her courage and anger outmeasuring anything else she felt at that moment.

"ANSWER ME YOU SON OF A BITCH!" She screamed. "Was it you? Are you the one haunting me with all of this hatred and pain. Well stop it, I'm warning you right now. STOP THESE GODDAMN VISIONS RIGHT NOW!"

The figure seemed to look up directly at her through the shadows and she saw a glimmer of his left eye looking at her. His eyes were piercing, and she finally shrank back a bit. "What do you want?" Oyuki said. "What the hell do you want from me?"

With that, the vision finally spoke, it's voice deep and booming, seeming to vibrate throughout the entire cave itself. _What I want, Oyuki...is very simple. I want your help._

"Why should I help you?" She spoke. "Give me on good reason why the hell I shouldn't just wake up and go somewhere, anywhere and walk away from all of this?"

_I'll give you two reasons. One-You know that if you flee, these visions will follow you, until the day you take your own life. You cannot hide from your destiny, Oyuki, and you know that better than anyone. And the second reason is this-your too strong of a person to let anything bad happen to your friends or to allow these visions to come true. Your pure of heart, and that won't allow you to run._

Oyuki shook her head, tears welling in her eyes. "Why me? Why pick me to do this? There's billions of other people that could set you free. Why me?"

_Because of your connection, Oyuki. You don't know it, but your alot closer to myself and my people than you know._

"What the hell does that mean?" She spoke. "What do you mean by that?" She rubbed her eyes and reopened them, and she gasped when she saw that he was no longer hidden in the shadows, he had dissapeared entirely. She backed up a step and felt her back hit something hard. As she went to turn around she felt hands gently lay themselves on her shoulders. She froze as the vision leaned into her ear and spoke.

_Oyuki, you do not yet fully understand your role in this situation, but listen well. Perhaps I can help clear some things up, as you humans say. What you are involved in is only known throughout the galaxy as the greatest war in history. I didn't want to involve you in this, but I fear I had no choice._

Oyuki's tears ran down her face. "I just...I just dont understand." She said, her voice breaking. "I don't see how I can ever help you."

_You can help me more than you could ever believe Oyuki. _As he spoke, he turned her around and she finally was able to face this vision. Oyuki's eyes went wide as she looked upon his face. "You're...you're a human?" She said. "Your one of us?"

The vision smiled at her and spoke. _Well, yes and no, I'm actually a different race that looks exactly like human beings. It's a long story, I'll explain when we meet face to face. _He reached down and wiped a falling tear from her eye. _Oyuki, your stronger than you believe you are. With my help you can not only rid yourself of these nightmares and haunting visions, but you can help me protect my people, and this galaxy, from its greatest enemy._

Oyuki looked up at this stranger, at his greying hair that fell past his shoulders, to his piercing blue eyes, which at this moment had a hint of sadness to them, but what caught her attention the most was the scar that ran across his right eye, stopping underneath it about three inches. She slowly reached out and softly laid her finger on the scar. He closed his eyes and let her run it across the wound gently.

"What happened?" She asked. "That's a terrible scar for someone to carry. How did you end up with it?" The vision looked at her and said _He gave it to me. I've suffered more scars than you can ever imagine from the battles I've fought Oyuki. But I've survived long enough to meet you and lend my aid, because not only is it your destiny to free me, it's my destiny to be freed._

Oyuki shook her head again and stepped away from him. "I don't know if I can do this. I mean, what if your wrong? What if by letting you go I cause millions of people to die?" The vision stood solid, staring at her, into her, and almost as if he stared through her.

_Oyuki if I am not freed there will be most certainly billions of dead planets, floating in space, all destroyed because of this one monster._

Oyuki shuddered. "Who is he? What does he want?" The vision turned and looked at the wall. _His name is Zerobez Malus. He is a monster with no love for anything or anyone, he only cares about himself and himself only. He would rather kill, maim and suffer existence than to deal with it. He's evil, in it's purest form. And you must help me stop him, Oyuki._

She sighed and stood standing for what seemed like an eternity. Finally, almost reluctantly, she spoke. "Ok, I'll help you. I don't know why...but I trust you. I don't believe that you mean me any harm."

The vision turned and beheld her, nodding. _And I don't Oyuki. I only want to stop Zerobez and end this. I only want to protect not just you, but the other people in existence from this evil. And I am glad you are willing to leave your fears behind you. You have real courage Oyuki, something alot of people lack._

"Yeah well I have a feeling my 'Real Courage' is gonna get me killed." The vision reached out and took her by the hands. _I doubt that, Oyuki, because I'll protect you. I promise._

The vision turned and looked around. _It seems my time here has run out. A pity I couldn't stay any longer. I must go Oyuki. _He walked up to her and put a hand on her shoulder. _But we will see each other again soon. I'm sure of it. Until we do, stay safe and remember, I am always with you, Oyuki Mamisha._

With that, he turned and began walking away. "Wait." Oyuki said. The vision stopped. She laughed nervously. "I never even got your name."

He smiled, the first time she had seen him do that. _My name is Seriphor Damascus. _He said, and swiftly turned and walked into the solid wall, dissapearing completely. She looked around and thought 'I should have asked him how to get out of here.' But even as she thought that, the walls, floor and ceiling of the vision began to blur. She could tell she was waking up as her vision started to darken, and she closed her eyes and welcomed it.

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She opened her eyes and sat up, her room was still the same as it was before. She looked around and finally looked to the clock, it read 3:50 p.m. She realized she had only been asleep for five minutes, but she felt as if she had slept for days. She felt fresh, invigorated. She launched herself to her feet and stopped. She could hear a muffled voice through her door. it sounded familiar.

She opened the door slowly and leaned out. Sure enough it was April talking on the phone in the kitchen. Oyuki normally didn't like eavesdropping on her friends, but she decided she would check and see if she was saying anything important. She leaned a little closer, trying to hear what April was saying.

"Yeah, yeah I know. She's allright, she's asleep right now. No...no I let her sleep, the poor girl needed it. I wont let her stay out long though, maybe an hour or two. Just enough to get at least a little down-time you know? Yeah, I understand that. No I think she'll be allright, I'm just keeping an ear open in case something happens. Yeah, yeah we're all heading to the mountains in Tibet, that's where we all think we'll find this thing. Ok, so you want me to pick you up on the way? Ok, yeah that shouldn't be a problem, just be ready in about two and a half hours. Allright, I'll talk to you soon, Casey."

Oyuki heard April hang up the phone and she walked into the kitchen. "Who was that?" Oyuki said. April spun around. "Oyuki! Damn, you scared the life out of me girl. That was just a friend of ours that's going with us. We're gonna pick him up on the way."

"Oh." Oyuki said, and started to turn around to head back to her room, when April stopped her. "Oyuki." She said. "How did you sleep?"

Oyuki turned and looked at her friend and smiled. "Like a baby. It's odd even though I was only out about five or six minutes and I feel like I slept for days."

April smiled. "Well I'm at least glad to know you feel refreshed. You're gonna need as much energy as you can get." Oyuki nodded and turned back to the hall and walked to her room. She walked in and grabbed a few more shirts out of her clothes drawer and finished packing, a smile on her face the whole time.

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He stands under an awning of a store. Vic's pawn shop the sign reads. He leans against one of the poles, smoking a cigarette, grateful that he could at least get out of the heavy rain. 'No sense in getting drenched before i head out.' He thinks to himself. He shifts his weight against the pole, careful to keep his bag slung over his shoulder. Inside of this bag are verious items that would most normally be used in sports activities. Baseball bats, hockey sticks, and what he calls his "Equalizer". This is in the form of a 40 pound cricket mallet. He remembered the day that he had first used this mallet, when he had landed a blow against an opponent that had lifted the guy off his feet and dumped his foe uncerimoniously upside-down into a trash bin.

He laughed to himself as he wondered how it went from that person being someone he scuffled with to becoming his best friend. The problem with that was his good friend was as much stubborn headed as he was, and that sometimes led to trouble. As also another little difficulty was a fairly obvious one...his friend was a mutant turtle.

Casey Jones threw his cigarette into the sewer drain when he saw a somewhat broken down light blue van turn the corner of Davis and 3rd street, only a block away. He waited until this van pulled in front of him by the curb and quickly ran to the door, opened it and said to the occupants inside. "Going my way sweetheart?"

April O' Neil and Oyuki Mamisha turned and smiled as April spoke. "Will you just get your goofy butt in the van before you end up completely soaked. I swear your so stubborn Casey." He smiled and climbed into the van, and sitting down he closed the van door. He turned to the driver and spoke. "So April, who's our third wheel here?"

Oyuki turned and regarded him with a smug smile. "Hi, Casey, I'm Oyuki." She offered her hand, which he took and shook, smiling. "Well it's nice to meet you Oyuki. It's just too bad you ended up being the chaperone on me and Ape's little date we got going." April rolled her eyes and spoke. "Get real Casey, you wish you had a chance." With that Casey laughed. "One day you'll give in and take me up on that date offer you know. I promise it." April laughed as she shifted the transmission of the van back into drive. Oyuki just rolled her eyes.

Casey smiled slyly and spoke. "So what's on the menu today? Shredder and his baddies? Rat King? Come on, don't leave me in suspense here." Oyuki turned and replied. "We'll explain when we meet up with the guys, I promise." Casey shrugged and said "Ahh, well I suppose I could wait a few more minutes till we get to the lair." April looked back at him and said quizically "What, Raphael didn't tell you?" Casey shook his head as April continued. "We're not going back to the lair, we're heading to the airport." Casey blinked once...twice...then finally after a pause only managed to say "What? The airport? Pardon me if in my infinite wisdom I somehow missed a major piece of the puzzle here, but...why?"

"Because your gonna use your contacts to get us a ride to Tibet." April said. "What the hell is in Tibet?" Casey answered. Oyuki sighed and turned around to look at him. "I can see you wanna know whats going on so I wont wait till we get there to tell you. Bear with me here...it's a little weird. You see, it all started with these nightmares I had been having..."

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The van pulled into the airport, it was a little charter airport usually reserved for flights of a small group of people wanting to go somewhere but not wanting the the long waits, the delays and cancellations, or the hustle and bustle of a major mainstream airport. But it was mostly in existence for people who wanted to go somehwere without anyone knowing their destination...

Oyuki looked around and finally sighed. She was growing very tired of all the melodrama already. Plus her energy was finally starting to wear down after her last vision...

"Everything ok, Oyuki?" April asked. Oyuki smiled. "Yeah, just can't wait to get this crap over and done with and move on." "I know what you mean." April replied. She looked behind her shoulder to Casey, who was sound asleep in the back of the van.

"Hey Casey." April spoke in raised voice. "Wake up, were here at the airport finally. Your directions did pay off, I stand corrected." Casey stirred and in a thick voice said. "Wazzat? Oh, we've finally pulled up to the port." He shook the cobwebs out of his head and sat up. "Great, now once we get the flight going we can figure out what's next. Hey where are the fellas?"

Oyuki nodded towards a darkened hanger. "There right there, Casey." Casey leaned forward and peered and realized that he could barely see six figures in the dark, but they were there. Anyone not knowing to look would never have seen them.

Oyuki opened her door and stepped out, stretched, and proceeded to walk to the airport office. "Hey Casey, you coming or what? Lets get the tickets bought and get the hell out of here." Casey nodded and proceeded to follow, as April slowly creeped the van towards the hanger where her friends were hiding from any passerby.

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"Holy shit Casey Jones, I had heard you died. Killed by some street punk in some street brawl. Course' I should'a known not to believe all that jibber jabber, can't keep Casey Jones down, no sir."

Casey rolled his eyes. "Yeah, ain't that the truth Roy. But look bud, we been pals for years right? And there ain't nothing I wouldn't do gfor you right buddy? And likewise the same, I hope. And I was hoping maybe that us being good pals and all you could do me a favor. See I got this little problem, not a major problem mind you but this..."

The old man running the counter of the tiny airport suddenly got very impatient. "Oh, just spill it already will ya Casey? I ain't got all tooting day ya know? Lemme guess it's something like you want a free ride somewhere for you and hers." He pointed at the young Japanese girl standing behind Casey. "Well you can fergitt it, Casey Jones, I gave you enough free rides as it is."

Casey frowned. "Ok, so I guess that means it didn't mean anything that I was the one that got your daughter out of the hole she dug herself in huh?"

"Now goddammit Casey." The old-timer said in his thick southern accent. "You been holding that over my head ever since you got her off that damn drug charge and I ain't letting you blackmail me with it this time."

Casey leaned forward and grinned. "But if it wasn't for me she would be in prison right now. And do you really think that would be healthy for Priscilla at all being that she's YOUR granddaughter and that you used to be a cop? Look bud, just hook us up this ONE LAST TIME, and I swear that will be it, I'll never mention anything about that little uncomfortable situation ever again, I promise."

"Dammit Casey, thats what you said last time. Sonofabitch man. FINE, FINE, allright. How many people is going and where in the sam hell you going to you damn swindler."

Casey smiled and spoke. "Three people to that little airport under the Tibetan mountains." The old man eyeballed him for a second. "What in the sam hell you wanting to go there for?" Casey grinned even wider and answered. "Recreation, my friend, recreation."

The old man sneered slightly. "Casey Jones, recreation for you is always something leading to chaos and destruction. NO DONT TELL ME WHAT YOUR PLANING." He said, holding up a hand to stop Casey from speaking. "Be best if I just don't know what the hell your up to these days."

Casey stopped and got a thoughtful look on his face, then finally said. "Oh, and I need plenty of Cargo room." The old man sneered again and spoke. "Why in the sam hell do you need cargo room? How much luggage can you youngsters have?"

Oyuki finally looked up and grumbled. "Trust me guy, he carries alotta excess baggage." The old man snorted and ripped out three tickets. "Fine, here's your damn tickets and don't be bringing the luggage in to tag, it ain't my responsibility if a damn mountain lion grabs your skivvies. fer Chris'sakes."

Casey took the tickets. "What, old man? No thank you for flying Pops Airways?" He grinned.

The old man sneered even more and spoke sarcastically. "Tell ya what? You want a catch phrase? Here ya go. Thanks for freeloading Pops ya cheap bastard, there's yer catch phrase, now fuck off." With that Casey laughed and walked out the door. "Stay in touch old man." Roy waved and yelled out. "Yeah and thanks fer taking cash out my pocket ya damn young punk." Casey couldn't stop laughing up until they got back to the van at the hanger bay..

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April's van pulled up slowly to the hanger that her friends were hiding in. She parked at close as she could without hitting anything, concealing the turtles, Splinter and Ninjara as they quickly opened the door and climbed into the van.

When they had all finally climbed in, April turned the van around and pulled up beside Casey and Oyuki, who were standing beside the plane. April pulled the van up so the door faced the cargo hold of the plane, allowing the ninjas and their friends to stealthily climb into the cargo cabin unnoticed.

When they had entered into the cabin and were sure no one had seen them, April climbed out of the van and walked over to Casey and Oyuki. "I'm gonna go park the van somewhere." she said. "I'll make sure it'll be there when we return."

Casey nodded. "No prob babe. We'll be here, but try to hurry because he's almost got everything ready to go." Casey answered, pointing to the pilot. "He's a good guy, but he hates slacking off, so he'll be ready within about five to ten minutes."

April looked up to the plane. "More than enough time for me to park the van and get back here." With that she turned and jumped into the van, driving it off to conceal in a location only they would know of.

Casey turned to Oyuki and spoke. "You ready for this kid?" Oyuki nodded. "Yeah, as much as I don't want to, I got no choice. If I don't go and do what needs to be done, I'm scared that it'll end up hurting not only me, but everyone I care about as well."

Casey put a hand on her shoulder. "Well kid, it looks like you got one more person on your side here, wherever it looks like there'd be chaos then count me in. Besides, I could use a good fight." Casey laughed. "I ain't been in a scrap since me and Raph decided to go to O'Connell's Bar and Grill and Raph got drunk." With that Casey laughed again as they walked to the plane...

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A Few Hours Later...

The gang had finally loaded up and the plane had took off to it's destination of Tibet. Casey, Raph, Donatello and Mikey sat in the middle of the luggage cabin playing cards. Leo and Splinter were meditating, seemingly deep into their trances. Ninjara and April sat chatting the trip away, while Oyuki seemed curled up on her own, apparantly asleep.

Donatello looked at Oyuki as he spoke. "I'm worried about her. Every minute she seems to get worse off. It's like this trip, the visions, this figure, are all sapping the life away from her. And I feel powerless to do anything, which is the worst part of all."

Mike shook his head. "I know what ya mean, bro. It sucks that we can't do anything but I'm hoping that this trip will help clear her head of that crap you know?" Raph grunted as he spoke. "Is it really gonna matter Mike? I'm telling you guys this is some kind of elaborate trap, it has to be."

Casey smiled slightly. "Well only one way to find out I guess. We got to go free this thing and see if it helps her. But if you ask me it may be a catch-22." Mikey raised a brow. "Catch twenty-two? What's that?" Casey chuckled. "Damned if ya do, damned if ya don't."

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_So...I see once again that you've came to me in your dreams. _The figure that had called himself Seriphor spoke. _Take heart in the fact that your journey to save her is almost at an end. _He looked up at his guest as he spoke.

Leonardo looked around to the familiarity of the cave that was exactly the same the last time he visited the vision. "So, you're really hard up for company huh?" Seriphor smiled at Leonardo's question. Leonardo watched his actions to detect any deceit, but he saw none whatsoever in this figure. He looked just as calm as Leo had ever seen him, almost the same as when he was fighting on the battlefield in the original vision.

_I cannot express my excitement and happiness that she chose to take the journey and free me. I've been stuck in here for a century, it tends to make your back ache a bit you see? _Seriphor smiled._ Horrible feeling, really. Of course, a century to my people is about 15 to 20 of your years on your planet, but it still feels pretty long to us..._

Leo laughed. "Yeah, I'm sure it works hell on your nerves, too. Probably boring too with nothing to do but sleep in some kind of stasis." Seriphor nodded. _Exactly, Leonardo. I've been sleeping all this time. How I long to be free of not only this prison, but of this war, this suffering and the pain of seeing my friends and loved ones suffer as well. _Seriphor seemed to grow somewhat distant at the end of that last sentence. Almost as if remembering the people in his past was to painful for him to bear.

Leonardo picked up on this and asked. "You've lost alot of people you love huh?" Seriphor looked into his eyes and spoke...

"_Everyone I have ever loved or truly cared for has died at the hands of this monster. That alone is the greatest reason why I struggle every day to win the battle against this demon. I put my life on the line...my very soul...to ensure that no one else has to die because of his actions, his choices_."

Leo sighed and sat down on a boulder half stuck into the dirt. "It must be difficult facing the fear of being alone. I almost understand how you feel, except that I got my brothers." Seriphor sat down in front of Leo on the ground, cross-legged. "Can I ask something?" Leo questioned. Seriphor slowly looked into his eyes, paused for what seemed an eternal moment, then slowly nodded.

Leo replied. "Why you? What made you dedicate your existence to fighting one person, be it a human, demon, mutant, etc.?" Seriphor sighed softly and opened his mouth to speak, but was interrupted by a third voice. "Yeah, that was something that crossed my mind as well. Hope you got a good answer to that."

Leonardo turned around and saw that Oyuki Mamisha had joined in their vision as well...

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	5. Why I Fight

Ok, now to my loyal readers, if I still have any, this Chapter may get a litle boring, a little slow and a little confusing but trust me...I HAVE MY REASONS FOR DOING THIS! Just grit and bear it and read, haha.

Devan

The Crystal Messiah  
Chapter 5: Why I Fight

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"Oyuki, how the hell..." Leo spoke, wide eyed. Oyuki could only shrug. "I dunno, one minute I was on the plane, and decided to lay down and see if I could talk to him again." She continued, gesturing towards Seriphor. "And the next, I got my wish, but I saw you were having a chat. So I decided to hang back until you asked him why he fights." She sat down next to Leo, reached into her front pocket of her jacket and pulled out her cigarettes. "Sweet." She said. "I was hoping these woulda made the trip with me."

Leo continued to look very much baffled by his and Seriphors new visitor. He finally just shook his head lightly and spoke. "Seriphor." He said. "Would you be able to answer what I asked you?" Seriphor sighed, look at them both and spoke.

_I once lived in a great city that stretched as far as the eye could see. This city was named Aquarius. It resided millions of what you would call light years away from your planet of Earth. It was beautiful, what the Robes called "Etar Fife Soina" in our language, roughly translated, it means "The Heaven Above All." I lived there with my older brother, Yarrnok, my mother, Jarnea, and my twin sister, Olykea. Our Father, Jatog, died before I was born. We were all a happy family, we lived as most happy families could live in those days. We didn't have alot of money, but we didn't mind. We had each other so currency wasn't important. _

Seriphor sighed and rubbed his eyes lightly. This was the first time Oyuki and Leo both had ever seen any hint of raw emotion come from this entity. Seriphor continued. _One day my brother Yarrnok came home to tell myself, my mother and my sister that he was planning on enlisting in the armies of the UGS. _

"Wait, what is the UGS?" Oyuki interrupted. Seriphor sighed. _The UGS stand for the United Galaxian Senate. It's a Government committee consiting of millions of worlds, they basically decide our way of life. They had what was once considered the grandest military force in existence, with the greatest and most intelligent Head Generals and Tactical Warfare Committee's possible...or so we had thought. _

"What happened?" Leonardo said. _Soon the UGS became stagnant, full of greedy senators squabbling for whatever control of territory they could get their hands on. Times became even harder, and it was rumored that the UGS Military Currency Act was about to be passed, allowing taxation of unity workers at a heavy fee, along with a law requiring every male, female and alien race alike to be automatically drafted into the service when they reached the age of what you consider to be 20. The UGS figured that age was well enough they could be trained to be completely obiedient to their commands. Soon their orders were to kill any and all opposition, women and children included. We became War-Mongers, led by Four Star Generals who were in turn pulled with strings by greedy alien corporations trying to find any way they could to make money._

_Soon, they began experimenting in the field of Bio-Engineering, Nuclear Positronics, Gene Therapy and Re-education, Psycho-Analyzation and Cyborg Attachment Research. The Bio-War Weapons Division was formed. They called out to any volunteers at first, offering what seemed like an easy fortune. All you had to be willing to do according to them was get poked and prodded a tiny bit in return. A small price to pay they claimed. My brother bought into the allure of these people's offers and volunteered._

_My mother cried and begged him not to go, but he kept saying "Mother, this is the only way I can keep you and my siblings fed." She tried everything she could to keep him home, but my brother was stubborn. He wanted to take care of us all, so he left. Mother was sad for a long time, but when my brothers first video letter came in she finally cheered up. He had sent us a letter, with a good amount of credits, seemingly showing that he was doing well. Every few weeks another letter would arrive saying basically the same things. As I grew older the letters from my brother started arriving fewer and farther in between. _

_My mother and my sister feared the worst, that somehow the government was starting to make him forget about us. That we were to him just a faded memory in his mind. Suddenly the letters just...stopped. Nothing. Mother tried to contact the UGS and ask them about Yarrnok but they replied in turn to every call she made with the same answer. "That is classified information that we are not allowed to release at the moment." My mother was destitue because taxation had taken so much currency from her job, and because she was destitue she could not afford the care she required in her age. She fell sick, and because she could not come to work when required, she lost her job. _

_One day as my sister and I were doing our chores outside, we looked up to find thousands of unrecognized military warships hovering in the sky. People were running outside, grabbing their children and hiding. Klaxons and Sirens blared throughout the cool mid-season air as these ships opened fire on our lands, destroying everything in their path. It seemed that Zerobez had launched his first ever attack against the UGS. Aquarius scrambled as it burned, finally getting ships into the air for battle, but the sky filled with millions of enemy fighter craft. We never stood a chance. Soldiers dropped from lines connecting the ship to the ground and as they hit the soft morning dirt they took off running, shooting at any strays they could pick off. _

_I grabbed my sister quickly and ran into the house. Yelling to my mother we took cover as explosions rocked the city and seemed to tear it in half. A board fell loose in the house and hit my sister in the back of her head, knocking her out. She seemed allright, but I couldn't find a way to get her help without letting the enemy know we were there. They were still all around. _

_Finally...It seemed like an eternity for the noises of war to die down some. I tried..._Seriphor said softly. _I_ _tried to pick them both up and carry them to an escape ship, but my mother, she was too heavy. I was still too young, not strong enough to carry them both..._

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Seriphor stopped and hung his head low, sitting in silence for a moment. Oyuki slowly slid down beside him and put a hand on his arm softly. "You dont have to say anything else if you don't want, Seriphor. I won't blame you." He shook his head. _I must finish this Oyuki. _ She nodded and took his hand in hers gently. "Ok, take your time if you need it." He looked into her eyes as he spoke. _Thank you._

After what seemed like an eternity, Seriphor finally spoke. _I was trying to figure out a way to move them both when my mother beckoned me to her. I'll never forget her words. Until the day I die, I swear it. She said to me. "Seriphor, I want you to take your sister and find a life jettison." I refused, telling her I wouldn't leave without her. She shushed me softly and said. "My child, you don't have any choice in this, you must take your sister and leave this place. I would only cause us all to be captured, you can't drag us both. _

_I started crying as she continued on, saying ..."You must listen to me. You possess a strength unlike any I have ever seen, but you let your emotions rage out of control. Doing so can only lead to people being hurt. You must learn to focus your emotions when you get into trouble. By doing this, you can become stronger than any warrior in history. When you find a lifeship you must promise me that you will do this one thing. You must promise me that you will find your brother and tell him what has happened. The UGS will send countermeasures and take back the city, it's too precious to them not to. But you must enlist in the UGS military and find your brother, reunite our family Seriphor."_

_I swore an oath that I would, and I left her there and carried my sister to one of the few remaining escape transports. We landed on Parigus, a UGS military owned planet, and were shuffled like refugee's into a squatters camp. They took my sister to a med station to treat her. After the attack, my promise to my mother, dragging my sister to safety, and the trip, I was utterly exhausted. I fell into a bunk in the sleeping quarters and went immediately into a deep sleep. I awoke to find my sister had dissapeared. None of the doctors of nurse aids knew that she had awoken, let alone walked away from the tent. I searched for hours for her, but no one seemed to care enough to help me. I havn't seen her since._

_After about a week, I finally did as I promised my mother. I enlisted into where I last knew my brother was located, the Bio-War Weapons Division. I spent years there, being tinkered and examined, 'poked and prodded', and experimented on in many painful ways, but somehow, it not only increased my fighting abilities, but my speed, my senses, my intellegence, and most of all it increased my strength to almost a thousand times that of a Human Earthling. I could fight just as well as any of the soldiers in the UGS...even better than most._

_But even through all those years I searched for Yarrnok and Olykea. As I dug deeper I had learned that my brother had died a year and a half after he left home in a skirmish on Veridian VII, trying to quell a friendly protest that had turned into a full blown riot. I had fullfilled my promise to my mother somewhat. While I may not have reunited with my brother, I learned his fate. It took me a long time to recover from the devastation of knowing that two people I loved were gone from my life._

"What about your sister, Olykea? What happened to her?" Oyuki said softly. Seriphor sighed. _I never found out where she was. She could be dead right now, or she could be alive, and I will probably never know the truth. I searched, in ways I'm still searching...but nothing has turned up yet. I lost hope of hearing news about her long ago._

Seriphor stood up. _My time here is almost finished, but let me leave you with this. You now know of my past, and you now know one of the reasons I fight, but it is not the greatest reason. _Leo eyed him. "And what is?" Seriphor looked him in the eye and spoke. _I fight because I choose to fight._

_Consider the options, if Zerobez wins, he will control every planet in the known existence, he will break free will and replace it with his own, every action, the choices of what were once free people will be used to benefit this monster. He cares nothing but for Destruction and Chaos. He'll slaughter millions of people because he believes in one fact and one alone. Fear rules the masses. And he is somewhat correct, but fear rules only for a short time. The people will try to rebel, but they will not succeed. Zerobez will kill them all._

Oyuki walked up to him. "When we meet for real, will you tell me about when you met him face to face for the first time?" Seriphor nodded. _I will tell you what remains of my past, that I promise. But not here, and not now. It took almost all of my energy to stay this long, I must rest. Take this. _He handed Oyuki a large paper rolled up into a tube, who in turn handed it to Leonardo.

_This map will tell you exactly where I am. Use it, for I will not be able to contact you again until I rest and regain all my powers. By that time you will already have been to my prison and had more than enough time to free me. _He looked at Leonardo. _ I must send you back now but I will need to hold Oyuki here one moment. _Leo started to speak but Seriphor held up his hand. _Leo, you must trust me. I must speak to her in private, that is all. Wake up now._

Leo began to fade out and then slowly dissapear, leaving them alone. Seriphor turned to Oyuki as she spoke. "So, you and I will finally get to meet face to face huh?" She smiled a bit. "I can't wait. I wanna know as much as I can about you. You just seem soooo interesting, ya know?"

Seriphor smiled. _As do you, Oyuki Mamisha. I feel the same but there is something I must warn you of before it happens. _With that Oyuki stopped and regarded him. _When you go to free me you may hear him. You may hear Zerobez speak into your mind. He will try to convince you to leave me trapped, to walk away. I implore you Oyuki, be strong, don't listen to him. His lies and deceit must not be attended to, do you understand. _Oyuki nodded. "Yes. If something tells me not to, then just ignore it."

Seriphor nodded. _Allright. Then I will see you soon...face to face. Take care Oyuki Mamisha. I long for our meeting. _Oyuki braced herself as the room, and Seriphor, faded out and she was left looking at the ceiling of the airplane, laying in the position she fell asleep in. She sat up and saw that Leonardo was telling everyone about their last visit with this new person, showing them the location of the tomb on the map they had received.

Oyuki sighed and thought in her mind. 'For what it's worth I hope you find your sister someday.' She laid on her back, and laying there she could swear she heard a voice echo a thanks in her mind. She smiled...

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	6. The Downward Spiral

The Crystal Messiah  
Chapter 6: The Downward Spiral

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"We haven't got very long till we land guys." Casey said. "Pilot said about ten minutes, so gear up." The group hurried to get ready for landing. Raphael sighed and turned toward Oyuki. "You sure your ready for this?" Oyuki nodded. "I guess when you think about it I dont have a choice."

Donatello laid a gentle hand on her shoulder. "Oyuki, you always have a choice." Oyuki smiled lightly and replied. "Thank you, Donny, but in this case it doesn't seem like I do." Oyuki stuffed a few more items into her pack and sat down. "I'm done" The rest of the group agreed that they were finished packing as Casey spoke once again. "We'll be on the ground in five minutes."

Splinter spoke. "Everyone, it is of the upmost importance that we make haste. We don't have very much time left until the sun rises, and I would like to be out of the village before we are spotted." Everyone nodded as Oyuki pulled out the map quickly."Ok, guys." She said. "The trail from this map shows that it's about 10 miles up the mountain, a bit of a ways, but it should only take us maybe an hour, two tops."

"Less than that." Casey spoke. "I got a friend with a truck that will take us up the trail and drop us off a quarter mile from where this spot is." Mike looked to the map, puzzled. "Wait a minute guys, this is mondo weird. Does that spot seem familiar?" He laid a finger on the marked spot indicating the cave's location. "Because if I'm not correct that looks like the Crystal Palace where the Charlie Llama once hung out."

Splinter's eyes grew in amazement. "I believe you are right my son." He looked closer at the map. "It does seem that the Palace is our destination. I wonder how our old friend Katmandu is." April laughed lightly "Seems he might be getting a surprise tonight huh?"

Suddenly the whole group felt the plane seem to drop slowly and heard a screech as the landing wheels touched down. A few minutes later the plane had stopped and the group was poised at the door, waiting to start the trip to the Crystal Palace."It's crazy" Leo spoke softly. Oyuki turned and looked at him. "What is?" "Just the fact that only a few hours ago we were all happy, and suddenly were in this position where the world could crumble under us at any time." Oyuki sighed softly. "That's life, and it's a bitch."

The door opened and the group shuffled out and headed towards the waiting truck. After loading themselves and their gear into the vehicle the driver took off for the mountains.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 30 Minutes Later...

The group sat in silence in the back of the truck, listening to the engine roar as the driver pulled it farther up the mountain. Oyuki sat with her head resting on her knees, pulled up to her chest. She didn't say anything, she couldn't. As they drew closer to the mountain she felt more fear. She could sense something dark and ominous waiting for them.

Leo watched her carefully in the shadows of the front of the truck bed. His worry grew every second. He knew that trouble would somehow find them in all this. He longed to be back home, relaxing with his brothers and family, not having to worry about some impending doom that the world was facing. He sighed.

Casey sat against one of the truck walls, with April leaning against him, he took his oversized jacket and wrapped both himself and her in it. She looked up and smiled at him and he smiled softly back. Neither one of them could find anything to say.

Splinter sat meditating silently, with Donatello and Michaelangelo trying to follow suit. Raphael and Ninjara sat curled up together almost exactly as April and Casey were. Raph seemed almost to a boiling point, and only Ninjara's presence beside him stopped him from exploding.

Suddenly the truck jerked and the party felt it slow to a crawl, finally stopping a few moments later. "That's as far as I can go guys...I can't get any farther up the mountain." Casey smiled slightly and put a hand on his friends shoulder. "It's allright Johnny, we'll just hike it from here." With that the group silently abandoned the truck and started working their way up the mountain, darkness covering them as they tread stealthily up the the rocky surface towards their goal.

Oyuki looked up the steep face of rocks and crevices. "Somewhere up there." She whispered to herself. "You're somewhere up there, waiting aren't you?" She felt a hand softly touch her shoulder and she turned and saw Donatello regarding her. he put a finger to his lips to indicate silence but his eyes spoke loyalty to her. She put her hand on his still resting one and sighed softly.

None of them had to say anything but it was all agging on their minds. The one single thought that they could not push away...

That they all may die this day...trying to save the world from an evil they didnt even know.

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20 minutes later

Oyuki stopped, breathing heavily, trying to keep her burning lungs from exploding. She needed a cigarette but was not hard up enough to be unable to resist the need. After a few moments she finally stood and looked at her surroundings. The rest of the group were all taking a moments rest, as Oyuki looked around.

She looked and all around her was nothing but a sea of rocks, some grey, some brown, and some reddish colored, seeming to be in the process of fading away from erosion. As Oyuki turned something caught her eye. She squinted against the new days sun and tried to make out what she was looking at, but was only able to see a tiny bit. "Casey." She spoke. Casey looked up from his deep thinking. "Gimme your Binoculars."

He reached up with the tool in hand. "See something?" he asked. "Maybe, I cant be too sure from this distance." She replied. She looked through the glass for a moment, silent. Casey and the group sat looking at her, waiting for a reply or an action of some kind.

Suddenly she leaned foward a bit and gasped. "There it is, that has to be it." She spoke. Everyone in the group stood, looking into the distance. As Oyuki looked into the ravines and rockface of the mountain, she finally realized just exactly what she was looking at.

She was staring into the entrance of a cave, about two hundred feet away from where they all were resting. "Yeah" she spoke softly. "That's it." "How do you know?" Ninjara asked. She turned and regarded them all. "I don't know how I know...I just...feel it, and it's really creeping me out." She started breathing faster now, panic trying to seize her in the darkness. Raphael walked up behind her and spoke. "Oyuki, listen to me, you dont have to do this. We can turn around and walk away RIGHT NOW, do you understand? We can find some other way to stop the visions, the dreams, whatever."

She shook her head. "No Raph, you still dont get it. There is no other way. This is my destiny, I have to meet it face to face." With that she started walking towards the cave. The group quickly grabbed their gear and followed. Donatello shot an unnerving look towards his brothers and Sensei, who all responded with a slight nod, worry lining their faces. But Oyuki seemed oblivious, walking on towards the cave at a set pace.

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Finally the group had arrived to the mouth of the cave. They all stopped, regarding the darkness seeming to pour out of this hole in the rock wall. Mikey spoke up. "I really dont like the feeling of this." Leonardo nodded, muttering "I can feel something coming from this place. Something dark."

"It's hate" Oyuki finally spoke, as she had been silent since spotting the cave. "It's hate, and loathing. It doesnt want us here. It wants us to dissapear into Oblivion, it wants us all dead." As she spoke, her voice seemed to grow more lucid. Her fear and panic melting away. Suddenly and without warning she walked into the mouth of the cave, surprising the group.

They tried to follow, Casey in the lead of the group, but he was suddenly blown backwards and landed on Mike and Don, who caught him and kept him steady. "What the fuck?" He spoke. "What the hell is going on?" Oyuki stopped and still facing the darkness spoke with her back to the group. "I'm the only one who can pass, it looks like." She stared into the blackness of the cave "Your here, and your waiting for me aren't you? Well here I come. I hope freeing you is worth it"

Raph stepped forward and almost yelled. "No frigging way, Oyuki you can't do this alone!" But he suffered the same fate as Casey, being blown back by the invisible force. He landed solidly on his shell but sprang up to his feet, sais out, charging the barrier. He struck it and was blown back again, and repeated his attack, only to fail once more. he stood up, anger seething. "SON OF A BITCH!" He yelled. "How is this fucking fair? Oyuki dont do this! You wont be safe in there!"

Oyuki, still facing the darkness, finally spoke. "I dont have a choice Rapheal, I told you that." With that she walked into the darkness of the cave, fading from the sight of her friends and the ones she called her family...

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Oyuki walked into the cave, unable to see anything but somehow knowing where she was going and where everything in the cave was located. She reached with her left arm and softly touched the cave wall. She could hear faint yelling behind her, seems the rest of the group was arguing about what to do. It didn't matter to her anymore. She just wanted it to stop, the nightmares, the stress, her friends pitying her, holding her hand through everything, all of it. She would stop the visions here and now, or die trying.

As she walked she noticed light finally appearing inside the cave. She looked around and saw torches slowly lighting themselves. "Yep, if I didnt think this was the cave before it damn sure is the right one now." Finally after a moment the torches fully lit up and she could see as well as feel her way through the passageway.

The tunnel wasnt very big, the roof of the cave only five or six more feet abover her head. She stared foward into the distance and saw what seemed to be a small incline. She walked faster, finally getting to what she saw a couple of minutes later. It was an incline, an it seemed to be the only way to continue forward. She hesitated for a moment, because there was no light down this drop. Only thick darkness. And she couldnt feel her way through this black fog. She breathed slowly through her teeth and decided against her better judgement, dropping into the hole.

She felt wind racing up her face and realized she was dropping a steep distance, but felt absolutely no terror. Suddenly the wind stopped and she felt herself gliding toward the ground slowly. Looking down she saw the ground finally lit up. She breathed a sigh of relief as she touched softly down onto the ground, almost as if she had been carried. 'That was really weird' She thought to herself. She lifted her head to look forward and gasped.

Sitting in front of her was a huge door...

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"We have to find some way in there!" Rapheal shouted. Splinter raised a hand patiently and spoke. "We cannot my son, it is not allowed. Only she can do this." "Fuck that!" Rapheal spoke. "We gotta figure out some way to..." "Rapheal!" Splinter sternly spoke. "We cannot, have patience my son. I can almost feel her inside, she seems to be fine."

Raph slowed down his pace a bit and seemed to breathe a bit easier. "You can feel her in there?" Splinter nodded. "Not fully, my son, but enough to know she is ok. But giving into your anger and impatience will only hinder her Rapheal." Raph slowly nodded but it was obvious he was not happy with this desicion. Mike tried to put a hand on his shoulder to steady him but it was shrugged off with a glare.

"Geez Raph, give it a rest for once will you?" Leo spoke. Raph whirled at him. "Oh sure, fearless leader, I bet it's easy for you to stay cool and uncaring about the situation huh?" Leo stared at him, into him, and through him. "I didnt say that I didn't care, I just realize that throwing a fit wont help."

Raph growled. "A FIT! WHY YOU MUTHERF...!" and went to attack Leo, but suddenly the ground started shaking violently, throwing them all off balance. "What the hell is going on?" April yelled. Splinter and Leo looked to each other and shared one single thought.

'She made it to the door' They both thought, not knowing how they knew...

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Oyuki stood staring at this gigantic door, it was monstrous and dwarfed her, making her feel like an ant at a picnic trying to steal food. She slowly walked to the door and looked at the words lettered in a completely different language then she should know. But yet she understood them perfectly.

Here lies the light, here lies the dark, trapped together in a haze of war. Here lies the good, here lies the hate, tearing at each others souls with fevereant passion. Here lies the Savior and the True Evil, destined to be freed again to rage across existence.

"Wow." She spoke out loud. "That's...really kinda scary." She reached out and softly touched the doorway. But nothing happened. "Great." She muttered. "Now frigging what?" She sat down on a boulder by the door and sighed, rubbing her forehead.

Suddenly and with a jerk she felt the ground start to shake. She stood up but lost her balance and fell to the ground, nearly cracking her head against the rock. She rolled onto her back and looked at the door...

It was slowly but surely creaking open...

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The ground shook and sawyed, almost as if the earth itself was tearing itself apart. "HOW LONG IS THIS GONNA LAST!" Casey yelled. Donatello looked up, worry gnawing at the back of his mind, and he was right. "LOOK OUT!" he screamed.

The group quickly turned to see what he was yelling at and noticed what he was going on about. The Earthquake had caused a rockslide and it was heading right for them all.

Leonardo grabbed Splinter and pushed Raph hard against the wall, underneath a large part of the mountain protruding from the wall of rock. Donatello and Mike both rolled out of the way and against a wall near their brothers and Master. Casey grabbed April and Ninjara and threw them across to Don and Mike, saving them, but didnt have enough time to avoid the wall of sliding rock himself as it fell and buried him violently. Raph tried to run out to save Casey but Leo held on to him tight as he screamed to his friend and Ally. "CASEY!" he yelled, as Casey Jones was buried under thousands of pounds of dirt and rock...

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The door finally swung open and the earth stopped shaking after a few moments, but even that couldnt calm Oyuki Mamisha's nerves. it seemed all of her fear and horror had caught up with her finally. She sat shaking, staring at the front of the swung open door, unable to see inside. She steadied herself after a few moments, steeling her nerves after an almost impossible struggle.

She stood up and glared at the door, and quickly walked around it and into the light shining through the open doorway. She stopped suddenly and gasped as she stood staring into the room. She stood in awe as she saw the room with the fountain from Leonardo and Splinter's shared vision. but what caught her attention was not the fountain but what was behind it.

For behind the fountain stood the Crystal Wall. Where the vision that called himself Seriphor Damascus was imprisioned...

Oyuki stepped forward and walked around the towering fountain slowly and stood staring at the wall. "So it's true. It's really you. Your really here. You really exist. Your not just a dream I suddenly came up with." She reached out and slowly touched the wall. She looked up at the dark figure inside of the crystal. "What am I supposed to do? What if I cant bear all this? What if we cant stop him? What if I fail them all?" She laid her forehead against the wall, it felt cool against her skin "What the hell do I do?" she spoke. She closed her eyes and tried to feel him through the wall. She tried with all her being to call to the one named Seriphor.

Suddenly she found what she sought. She felt someone in the room with her. She raised her head slightly and spoke. "Hi Seriphor." She said. "It looks like I did it huh? Looks like I made it just in time to save the day huh?"

A dark humanlike voice growled behind her. "Don't bet on it, bitch." Her eyes shot open and she spun around.

And there standing before her, was the nightmare she truly feared. The entity they called Zerobez Malus, the one named the True Evil...

"Little girl," Zerobez growled in a demonic voice. "You and I need to have a little talk."

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	7. The Battle Begins

TO my Avid Readers: OHHHH SNAP! DIDNT SEE THAT COMING DID YA! Keep the faith people, it only gets more exciting from here. Still more violent scenes and naughty language. Even worse now that Zerobez is in the mix. R&R please. Thank you for the reviews I have recieved so far, I appreciate it. Later.

P.S. Did I tell you guys yet that this story is absolutely NOT FOR KIDS ANYMORE! lol Be forewarned...

Devan

P.S.S. Oh and I forgot if you dont know who is Oyuki is GO HERE!...http/ to AC Poole for the Info on Oyuki. Later.

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The Crystal Messiah  
Chapter 7: The Battle Begins

"It...it can't be..." Oyuki stammered, fear gripping her heart in it's cold unforgiving hands. Zerobez could only sneer. "Can't be what, bitch? You didn't expect little old me to show up did you?" He laughed, a loud, invasive demonic laugh. "What you don't seem to understand child is this..."

Suddenly he blurred out of Oyuki's vision and she felt pressure at her throat, cutting off her breathing. Her eyes went wide as she felt herself lifted off the ground and as she looked down she realized Zerobez had somehow moved so quickly she couldn't react. And now he stood with her lifted off the ground, using only one hand to strangle the life out of her.

He completed his former sentence. "...I go where I want, cunt. And not you or any of your fucking freak friends can do anything to stop me." She kicked and struggled trying to get out of his death grip but it was futile. He held her almost three feet in the air with an ease unknown to anyone in existence but the True Evil himself.

"What did you think, whore? You thought you would come here, and just free Hero Boy and walk out, then go kill me and live happily ever after? Dont make me fucking laugh. He doesn't stand a chance against my Legion, let alone against me." With that he tightened his grip, and Oyuki could see darkness lining the outer vision of her sight. She tried to struggle even harder, but she felt herself growing weaker as she fought for breath that would not come.

"Your little boyfriend is gonna wake up allright, but he's gonna find your lifeless body waiting for him as a fucking trophy. Then I'm gonna wave my hand and erase his little Super Hero wannabe ass off the face of this planet, then I'm gonna take this junk heap floating rock you call Earth and..." But he didn't complete the sentence because suddenly he was blown back hard, releasing Oyuki, who could only crawl against the wall and gasp and cough for air.

She looked up after a moment and realized that an arm was strecthed out of the wall. Seriphor's arm itself. She looked around and realized the wall was melting away. She turned quickly as she heard Zerobez roar in rage as he flipped up and charged the wall. "FUCKING SOLDIER BOY! ALWAYS GOT TO RUIN EVERYTHING DONT YOU!"

The wall burst apart as Seriphor Damascus flew out and met Zerobez in the air, grabbing him in a test of strength, hands locked against each other. "You always did underestimate me, Zerobez." Seriphor smiled at his opponent. "One day, and I promise you this, It will end you."

"NOT IF I HAVE ANYTHING TO SAY ABOUT IT LITTLE MAN!" Zerobez screamed. Lashing out a roundhouse kick, he caught Seriphor square across the side of the head, slamming him with such force into the wall that it seemed to collapse into itself. Seriphor dissapeared into the wall as Zerobez pointed at Oyuki. "Don't go anywhere little girl, we ain't finished yet." With that he dove hard into the wall, following his foe.

Oyuki sat against the stone wall coughing, trying to keep herself from passing out from lack of Oxygen. She finally was able to get her full breath to return after a few moments, but knew that her neck would be sore for days, if not weeks. "God," she rasped to herself "Where did he get that strength?" She heard a loud crash as Seriphor and Zerobez fell through the wall right in front of her. Locked into a seemingly endless struggle they fought back and forth.

Seriphor backhanded his opponent and sent him flying into the fountain, shattering it into millions of pieces. Zerobez in mid-air shot something out of his hands that looked to Oyuki like a big fireball, hitting Seriphor like a bullseye through the chest. He flew backwards into the remainder of the Crystal wall, shattering it, as well as knocking weapons out of the wall where they had been trapped and sliding them across the floor.

Zerobez sat up quickly and reached out, causing a humongous sword twice as wide as him to fly into his hands, He stood poised, battle ready, as he spoke. "It's been a long time since I got to use this baby." He tapped his sword with his other knuckle causing a sharp ting. "And now Black Angel and I are going to carve you up, bitch."

Seriphor stood, holding a weapon of his own, to Oyuki it seemed this weapon was almost ten feet long, seemingly giving him the reach advantage in this fight. "Go ahead Zerobez, and I'll beat you back like I have everytime. Because your nothing, just a soldier who thinks he can own the galaxy and control his own fate."

Zerobez snarled and lunged at Seriphor, swinging Black Angel at him, but only getting a quick block, causing sparks to fly from both swords. "I'm more than just some ordinary soldier, boy!" he snapped. His swings seemed to attack his opponent with a fury unlike any seen by the young Japanese teenager. She regarded the two fighters with awe as they struggled for advantage.

But for every swing of Zerobez's sword, Seriphor blocked it with ease. "You still fight using only your anger Zerobez, I would have thought you'd have learned you cant defeat me that way." Seriphor ducked underneath a Black Angel swing that cut the solid stone wall, causing a deep gash in the earthen rock. "You should have learned only passion and true skill can defeat your opponent."

Zerobez kicked Seriphor in the stomach, then grabbed his head and smashed it against his knee. "I've got more skill than you ever will Damascus!." Zerobez snarled. Seriphor in mid-fall swept his leg, but Zerobez reached out with his left hand, caught his entire weight and threw a straight kick with both of his feet into Seriphors stomach, doubling him over. He raised the sword he named Black Angel to strike the death blow to his long time enemy but suddenly a rock smacked him on the side of the head.

Oyuki stood defiant in the sight of the True Evil. "LEAVE...HIM...ALONE.." she rasped. Zerobez turned to her, grinning, and dissapeared suddenly. Oyuki looked around for him and suddenly heard Seriphor scream. "Oyuki BEHIND YOU!" She didn't have any time to react, as Zerobez appeared behind her and pressed Black Angel to her throat.

Oyuki froze. She could only shake in fear as she heard Zerobez's demonic voice speak into her ear. "So little girl, where were we in that conversation?"

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The rest of the group were frantically digging to find Casey Jones before he suffocated underneath the mountain of rock covering him. "Fuck, fuck FUCK!" Rapheal screamed. "Casey! Where the fuck are you man!" He dug into the rock faster and faster, fingers burning, nails snapping and getting bent backwards, hands bleeding, pain rushing up his arm. But he wouldn't stop, he couldn't stop. He had to save Casey. He just had to.

Images flashed across his mind. His first meeting Casey while he tried to beat down two young muggers, fighting the man he now called his friend, them both working to defeat the Shredder for the first time. Hanging out in bars, drinking, watching football. All the good and bad memories just flashed across his mind, flooding his senses.

"Please, Casey." he said. "Please be allright."

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"Zerobez, if you value your life at all you'll let her go." Seriphor stared at his enemy, his piercing blue eyes burning a hole into both his foe and the girl he swore to protect, no held at the mercy of his former.

Zerobez could only grin at the standoff he had created. "So, Mr. Hero. What's it gonna be? Save your little girlfriend?" He licked the side of Oyuki face, causing her to shudder and almost gag. "Or let her die and end this war once and for all? Is the sacrifice worth it? Do you even have the stones to do what you pathetic Aquarians consider right? Hey! What's one more life huh? So long as you kill me. It would be worth it don't you think? I know the UGS would agree with me, hell they practically got a hard on for my death, so why not help them out with that Soldier Boy, huh?"

Zerobez chuckled and held the blade tighter to Oyuki's throat, causing the skin to break slightly and blood to lightly trickle down her throat. She groaned slightly. Zerobez shifted his eyes to her and chuckled. "Whats a matter babe? Am i being a little too rough with you? I bet that's what you like though...isn't it? Ohhhh I bet you and Soldier Boy over there were both just dreaming of the happy ending you would get after I'm dead and you two ride off into the sunset together." Zerobez pulled her butt up against his crotch as tight as he could, sending a shudder from her. "But guess what bitch? This is my world, my rules. Here I can fuck you in every hole you have and Superman here can't do anything to stop me. You'd like that wouldn't you, whore?"

"Zerobez stop it!" Seriphor screamed. his enemy turned his eyes towards him. "Enough of this fun and games bullshit. Throw down your sword, Seriphor. Or I cut your fucking bitch's head clean off and hang it on my mantlepiece" Oyuki looked to her Savior and yelled "Don't do it Seriphor! AH!" The last word was spoken as Zerobez tightened his grip around her waist, pinning her harder, allowing little to no chance of squirming out of his grip. He looked to his enemy. "I ain't got all day soldier boy, I'm gonna count to three, then she's a goddamn blood spot. One...Two...Three.."

"OK! Stop! You Win!" Seriphor said. He dropped his sword. "Kick it over here." Zerobez snarled. Seriphor nodded, then kicked the ten foot long sword past where his enemy stood. Zerobez sneered and threw Oyuki down, springing towards Seriphor, Black Angel in hand.

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Oyuki fell to the ground with a solid thud. She sat for a moment quickly gathering herself together, and could only watch as Zerobez sprung towards Seriphor with Black Angel poised to a Death Strike. She was amazed as she watched Seriphor quickly move as a blur away from the strike. And as Zerobez continued to swing at Seriphor he continued to move at speeds impossible to human kind. He was finally able to position himself in front of Oyuki, and she realized his plan. Quickly she turned, grabbed his weapon and slid it to him until it hit the back of his foot.

Seriphor dodged a hard lunge and slammed his fist against Zerobez's temple with absolute force. Zerobez stumbled and almost lost his balance, which was a long enough distraction for Seriphor to stomp on the butt end of his sword, popping it into the air and into his open palm. He swung his sword with grace, bearly grazing Zerobez as he quickly dodged the swing by his foe. Zerobez landed uncerimoniously on his rear end and roared at his opponent. Standing up quickly he looked at them both and seeing he could not use the girl again without going through Seriphor first he decided the best course of action. Through gritted teeth he spoke in seething anger. "Well, it seems you hold the advantage, for now. But next time we meet, it won't be just you and me."

Zerobez reached for something in his pocket, and proceeded to pull out what seemed to be a golden hourglass, and quickly before anyone could react he threw it hard against the ground, shattering it. White Light poured into the room, blinding Seriphor and Oyuki before they could close their eyes.

Oyuki struggled to see, finally readjusting her vision after a few moments. She only saw Seriphor standing there, in the spot where Zerobez was standing was light pouring in from a hole in the ceiling. it seemed that Zerobez had escaped...

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Leo helped Raph dig, trying to find Casey, when suddenly a loud boom surronded them. Turning towards the sound they witnessed a figure blast into the sky through the mountain. "Is that him?" April asked. "Is that Seriphor or whoever his name was?" Leo shook his head. "I don't think so..." Raph yelled. "Keep digging! Find Casey!"

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Oyuki stood up, every bone in her body groaning at her to stay on the ground, but she couldn't and she wouldn't. "Seriphor?" she asked. "Is..is it really you?" He stood with his back towards her, regarding the escape tunnel Zerobez had carved through the mountain. Oyuki stood there, watching him. Even after all the chaos, she couldn't help but admire the tone an fitness of his body, the muscles rippling off of him. He looked like one of the weight lifters she would see on ESPN randomly.

"Seriphor Damascus?" She spoke again. He finally lowered his head and turned, looking into her eyes for the first time since his release. He nodded. "And you are Oyuki Mamisha, are you not?" She half smiled. "Yeah, that's me unfortunately." She faked a laugh. "Good Old Lucky Me, ha ha." She collapsed onto the ground, all the exhausting events of the past few days finally catching up with her all at once. She laid there, tears rolling down her face.

Suddenly she felt gentle hands underneath her arms helping her stand. She collapsed against Seriphor's chest as he spoke. "It's nice to finally meet you."

She couldnt help but smile...

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"So, what happens now? Does it stop? Do I stop having these damned nightmares?" Oyuki looked into those piercing blue eyes once more, amazed at the determination and sheer will hidden behind them. He looked deep into her eyes and spoke after a few moments. "Yes, the visions will stop because there no reason to have them anymore, you freed me." He smiled, and to her it seemed a whole weight was lifted off her back. "Thank you." He said.

His smile suddenly stiffened and turned into a frown. Quickly he picked Oyuki up in his arms. "What are you doing?" She asked. "No time." He said, and launched them both through the hole Zerobez had created during his escape. Oyuki held on tightly as she felt nothing at first, then suddenly cold air hit her dead in te face, feeling herself whoosh through the air. After a few seconds she felt them both descend and a thought screamed across her mind _He cant fly, he's gonna kill us both! _But suddenly she felt her quick descent slow until they finally touched the ground lightly. Seriphor eased Oyuki from his arms and stared ahead. Oyuki looked in the direction he looked as well and saw that she was standing on what seemed to be hills of rocks. She looked a few feet ahead and saw her friends digging frantically.

She looked at Seriphor. "What's happening?" "One of your friends is buried underneath the rockslide caused by the quake." Oyuki gasped and suddenly looked at the group, then realized who was missing. "Casey!" she screamed, causing the group to look in her direction, finally seeing Seriphor for the first time. They all momentarily stopped, but Raph shook his head quickly and started digging again, causing the group to snap back into focus. "Help us out!" He screamed.

Seriphor in a commanding voice only spoke one word. "Move!" he shouted. The Turtles, Ninjara, and April quickly looked at each other as Oyuki yelled. "Trust him!" she said. Quickly the group jumped from the pil as Seriphor ran quickly towards the slide, both arms held behind him, botom of the palms connected to each other. Right before he got to the huge mountainous pile he shot his arms forward, almost as if he was pushing someone with all of his force, suddenly causeing thousands of pounds of rock and gravel and dirt to fly away from him, pushed by some invisible force. And underneath the now missing rubble lied Casey Jones.

Raph ran up and quickly picked his friend head up and listened close. After a few moments Raph spoke, making everyone blood run cold. "He's not breathing!"

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	8. Awakening

The Crystal Messiah  
Chapter 8: Awakening

Note: Still rated M. For good reason. HERE COMES THE PAIN!

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Raph felt the back of his spine turn cold as he tried his best to revive his best friend. He hurriedly pumped on Casey's chest with his hands, using his knowledge of CPR handed down by his master to bring back his fallen friend. "Come on Casey, dammit. Wake up" The rest of the group stood just staring, praying for his sudden recovery and return to conciousness.

Suddenly Casey's limp body shuddered and he began coughing violently. Raph breathed a sigh of relief as he sat his good friend up and helped him regain his breath. "What...the...hell...happened?" Casey tried to speak. April ran over quickly and gently wrapped her arms around his chest, careful not to constrict him. "You're ok." She said more to herself than to anyone else present. Donatello smiled and said. "You were almost a goner there bud, if it hadn't been for our new found friend here we would have never got to you in time.

Slowly but surely the memory of the past few minutes events flooded Casey's mind. The quake, the landside, shoving his friends to safety, then the rocks and dirt falling on him, then nothing but darkness and being unable to breathe, suffocating slowly under tons of rock. Slowly he stood up, a hand on Raph and April's shoulders to steady him. "How did you guys..get to me in time?" he spoke, still struggling a bit to breathe normally.

Leo looked to his left and spoke. "We didn't. If it wasn't for him we would have never got to you under all that rubble." Casey looked up and got his first glimpse of Seriphor, leaning against the wall next to the cave entrance. He walked up to him and spoke. "So your him, huh? Your the Big Bad dude that everyone has been dreaming of huh?" Seriphor regarded him with latent eyes. "Yes, I suppose that would be one way of considering it, Casey Jones."

Casey stuck his hand out slowly. "Well, thanks for saving my ass then bud." Seriphor looked at the hand, then at the person connected to it, then back at the hand again. He slowly reached out himself and shook Casey's still outstretched hand. "Don't worry about it. Your friends were willing to do whatever it took to save you. I just did the same, except I had a little bit more of an advantage in getting to you." He gestured behind Casey, causing him to look behind his shoulder, turning a bit. All Casey saw was rock and dirt everywhere, except in the spot where it landed on him. That spot was completely cleared out, almost as if it had never been assualted by the landslide.

"Wow." He admired. "You damn sure got some talent there bub." Seriphor could only smile slightly. "My friend, you have no...idea." Oyuki giggled. Mikey, looking confused asked "What's so funny? Seriphor shook his head and spoke. "Time is of the essence my friends. We must stop Zerobez." The group's faces suddenly went somber as Casey spoke. "yeah I'm down for some skull thrashin, but one question. Where the hell is he going?" At that question Seriphor's face grew even more serious as he replied. "I know exactly what his next goal is."

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A form flies through the air, seemingly ignoring gravity, traveling at supersonic speeds. The one called the True Evil sneered at the land underneath him. "Pitiful humans" he spoke. "You do not yet know my power. You Mill about, living out your lives, ignoring the fact that you are all destined to die. but I. I am immortal. I am terror incarnate and fear itself. I live in childrens nightmares and in the dark corners of your mind. I will not be just a memory. It's time to awaken my legion and spread my reign of terror once again."

Zerobez's hearing suddenly picked up a hig pitched whoosh and as he looked ahead into the distance he saw a 747 Commercial Flight Aiplane. He smiled to himself as he though '_What better way to start then by using this...flying contraption as a prime example' _Quickly he increased his flight speed, catching up to the plane within seconds. As he slowed down and flew on the left side of the 747 people inside the flight stared at him, some in awe, some in terror. "Yes" he spoke "You have a damn good reason to fear me, because this moment marks your death." With that, Zerobez veered hard to his right, slamming into the plane and tearing the wing and a large portion of the side of the plane off. Still breathing bodies flew from the cabin out into the crisp clean air, parachuteless people fell from the plane, passengers screaming and clawing at anything they could to keep from plunging to their death.

Zerobez bellowed laughter as he shot beams from his hands into the tail of the plane, causing it to collapse and fly off in a ball of fire, incinerating the people in the back of the flight alive. The plane quickly dipped and tailspinned straight down as the True Evil laughed once more, resuming his own path of flight, using his super sensitive hearing to listen to the passengers scream for help. "NOW THAT IS MUSIC TO MY EARS!" He bellowed, laughing once more as he resumed his lighting fast speed.

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"So wait. What your saying is that there are more guys like Zerobez? And that they are here? On Earth?" Donatello spoke. dreading the answer that their new friend would give. Seriphor nodded slowly. The group was back inside the truck, heading towards the plane awaiting them on the runway where they had landed. "Yes, but not as strong as Zerobez, not by a long shot." Seriphor's head dropped a bit as he spoke. "Zerobez nicknamed them Legion, I find that actually quite fitting of a name considering the four of them alone took out an entire UGS army, in one fell swoop. Fifty thousand men, decimated in a matter of moments." Everyone stared at him in shock. "F..Fifty thousand people? In a few minutes?" Oyuki stammered. Seriphor nodded. "Yes. In reality I believe the number was actually greater. But that does not matter, what matters is it took only five minutes for the four to kill every soldier there."

Leonardo shook his head. "How were they beaten then?" Seriphor looked up at him. "Using information from our spies inside working for us, we were able to draw them out one at a time. General Alabert Corver, who was the head general of the UGS, and my mentor, teacher and best friend, was able to trap them one by one and freeze them inside special made crystal walls, like the one you found me in, Oyuki. Even at that the death toll was astronomical in the battles to trap them. Thousands of soldiers died within hours at each member of Legio's single hands, if not for taking them on one at a time, we would never have been able to trap them..."

Donatello again shook his head. "Wait" He spoke. "All these soldiers...you mean to tell me that the UGS had all this? All these armies, this weaponry, the technology? That means they were greater than any army I have ever heard of." Seriphor nodded. "Yes, remember the UGS is combined of hundreds of thousands of Political embodiments spanning over Billions of planets all over existence." Donny could only mutter to himself as the reality of that statement hit him."Wow, billions of planets."

Seriphor continued."Before the war with Zerobez began we were in possession of Two Hundred Million armed Forces. Once we were able to finally trap not only Legion but Zerobez as well, our numbers had remained in the mere thousands. Countless numbers of men lost their lives because they believed that Zerobez was the prophetic True Evil." April raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean, Prophetic, Seriphor?" He sighed and spoke.

"Billions of years before your planet even came into existence a man appeared and spoke of a prophecy. The Prophecy stated that there would come a monster, one born of Pure Evil, with strength and power unknown to existence. With this power he would conquer countless worlds, bringing governments and civilizations to their knees. But in balance to itself there was said that ages later a child would be born that would finally destroy the True Evil and his minions, bringing peace to the galaxy. He or she was named the Savior of the Light, but it was never clear on who the child would be."

Splinter pondered this for a moment then spoke softly. "And you believe that you are this...Savior of the Light, Seriphor?" He shrugged. "I do not know for sure. All I know and understand is that Zerobez is again loose and if it is him the Prophecy speaks of, then we must stop him as soon as possible, whether it be by trapping him, or finding the child who is said to be able to kill him." The other nodded in agreement. Casey spoke. "So tell us about this Legion you spoke of."

Seriphor nodded as he spoke. "Like I said before Legion have power unlike anything seen, but Zerobez dwarfs them alone. But as for Legion it consists of four soldiers. The first is Curka. He is a master at making explosives, and when I say master I do not take it lightly. Attempting to capture him caused the deaths of over one thousand soldiers alone by his hand. He can form bombs from any object, even if you gave him a rubber band and some strings. I do not know how he can do it but i have seen it done. Next is Jolnah, she is a master assassin, specializing in mind control and the ability to disentigrate through walls and reappear within ten miles of her original location. Watch out for her, she may look the weakest but she is the second in command to Legion. Third is Xegmar, He can create portals large enough to swallow worlds, making them reappear anywhere he chooses, and he can travel hiimself through these portals, disregarding space and time itself. He also has the ability to regenerate at super speeds, I've seen this creature blown to pieces and reappear whole three seconds later. The secret to stopping that is still as of yet unknown."

He stopped for a moment. Taking in the reaction of the group at the explanation of Legions power. Leo and his brothers all looked somber, Splinter had his head down in deep contemplation, Casey, April and Ninjara were listening intently. He looked over to Oyuki and found he could not tell what she was thinking, she seemed almost...determined. But at what he did not know. He decided to continue.

"And lastly there is Jarvis. With the exeption of the bomb ability he possesses all of the talents and attributes of the rest of Legion, only he is more controlled, and along with that he has awesome strength like I have never seen, speed unlike anything possible, and he is fiercely loyal to Zerobez. He is the True Evil's right hand. He moves faster than the wind and strikes harder than steel. It was him we had the most trouble with while attempting to trap Legion. He murdered over thirty thousand soldiers oin one battle alone."

"They all learned their skills from Zerobez himself, so that says something about the man who people claim to be the True Evil. But along with that Zerobez posses more ability than Legion combined. He alone destroyed countless planets, mudering unnumberable civilizations. He was the one that brought the UGS to it's knees and almost crippled the Congress of the Thousand."

Donatello, his curiosity peaked spoke quickly. "What is the Congress of the Thousand?" Seriphor sighed softly and spoke. "That I will explain another time, but for now I wish to rest a bit, if that is ok?" Splinter stepped forward and put his hand on Seriphors shouder lightly "Yes my friend, take as much time as you need to rest, I'm sure your transition from the wall back into this world has been a hectic and exhausting one." Seriphor slowly nodded and sat down in the corner of the back of the truck.

He closed his eyes as the rest of the group decided to take the small amount of time to rest as well. Leo and all his brothers, along with Splinter, Ninjara and April all decided to meditate on the events. Casey sat down and like Seriphor closed his eyes and silently went to sleep. Oyuki sat next to Seriphor and watched him breathe silently, eyes closed, seemingly at peace. She laid her back against the wall of the truck and like all the others closed her eyes, quickly falling asleep. Seriphor opened his eyes and sat looking at her sleep. She slowly slumped over gently into his shoulder, and he lightly lifted his arm, wrapping it around her and letting her sleep soundly against his chest.

He would protect her, he knew it was what he had been brought bck for. One of the reasons he was now in this timeframe. He had a mission, and a promise to fullfil to an old friend...

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Denver, Colorado

United States Military Complex

Corporeal James Burnard was walking through his usual rounds when he decided to duck behind a currently unoccupied bunker and have a quick smoke. For some reason lately the compound had been abuzz with scientists mucking about here and there. He never caught much conversation between them. Something about some weird creature and a solid wall. he has no idea, he was a grunt, he wasn't supposed to know these things.

He leaned against the wall of the bunker, smoking his ciggarette and enjoying life. He had been a soldier since he was eighteen, now at the age of twenty five, married with two children living in Denver, he was glad to be able to see his family after such a long hiatus in Afghanistan fighting terrorism. He had been in that bone dry desert for almost two years, randomly getting to go home on leave maybe twice a year for a few weeks. But that was the price to pay to serves one's country he supposed.

He had already gotten one reprimand for smoking but he decided to take the chance once more today. He sighed to himself "Can this day get any worse?" He asked out loud. he was shocked into drawing his weapon when a deep voice answered. "Yeah I think it can get alot worse fool" He turned and felt an enormous pain shoot through his stomach and as he looked down, he saw a hand sticking not only through his shirt, but into his underbelly as well. He looked up, directly into Zerobez Malus' eyes as the villian spoke. "I think it can get alot fucking worse for you." And as he finished that sentence he pulled his hand back hard, ripping out Corporeal James Burnards entrails out through his marines issue uniform. He only had time to picture the smiling faces of his two children and his wife and say a quick goodbye in his head when all of a sudden his stomach exploded, ripping him in half and with a blood filled gurgle he breathed his last.

Zerobez picked up the still burning ciggarette with a blood soaked hand, took a puff, stuck it back in his mouth, and proceeded to walk towards the main bunker entrance, covered in his newest victims crimson red, a content smile on his face.

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"Hold it!" One of the other soldiers yelled at the blood soaked intruder. "This is a private compound, you are under arrest for treason and the murder of a United States Military Soldier, now on you're knees scum, or we will drop you where you stand!" Zerobez said nothing, only held his content smile, now pushing towards a sneer. The soldier yelled another warning but Zerobez continued walkig towards the labs section of the compound. Suddenly gunfire rang out, six shots from the barrel of the Marines Carbine rifle.

A tense moment followed as the soldier waited for the explosion of skin, the tearing of bone and sinew from the bullet casings ripping his enemy apart. But none came, Zerobez just stood there, half grinning, half sneering, he held up one arm and slowly opened his hand, causing six bullets to drop out of his palm. The shooter's eyes grew wide with surprise and horror. In a panicked yell he ordered all of the soldiers near him to fire on the intruder. Ten soldiers opened their barrels full on as they attempting to savagely cut down Zerobez.

But as each bullet hit his skin it did nothing but aimlessly bounce off, leaving Zerobez unharmed. The True Evil sneered as he spoke. "Is that the best you can do? How about I end this boring charade quickly, I have too many things to do and too many innocent people to murder." With a wave of his hand, a black hole appeared underneath three of the soldiers and began to suck them in quickly. As they clawed the ground and screamed for help, the others tried to pull them back up, but to no avail, the three were sucked in, leaving only the four soldiers left.

The leader pulled his grenade pin from the grenade he was holding and threw it at Zerobez. It was caught easily, and within a second it exploded, covering the True Evil in flames. But Zerobez just stood there still, laughing maniacally. His hand reached out and suddenly the soldiers were telepathically slammed into the solid brick wall behind them. Zerobez made a push motion and the four soldiers screamed as they were pushed with a force so hard their bones broke and skin split, until they were blood and bone spots against the wall.

Satisfied with his work, Zerobez turned and walked towards the inside of the bunker, tearing open the air locked door and throwing it aside. He stepped down the steps till he was level on the ground, inside a buker, where a hundred soldiers awaited him, guns drawn, and behind them, three tanks, their barrels swung directly in Zerobez's direction.

The True Evil slowly grinned, cracked his knuckles, and spoke in a demonic voice. "Hopefully you ladies are alot more fun than you're former counterparts..because if you're as pussy as they are this will be quick..." With that he began walking towards the troops as they all opened fire on him...

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	9. Fire in the Sky

The Crystal Messiah  
Chapter 9: Fire in the Sky

Denver, Colorado:

The Turtles and their friends had just reached the skyline of the city of Denver as the plane flew over the city. Seriphor spoke over the roar of the engines. "I'm guessing that Zerobez would only go one place, to free his generals first, to free the Legion. And most likely he would go to where he could sense the closet one first. He's not yet at full power so he would need protection until he is able to recharge his energies once more." Seriphor looked into the distance, then back at the Turtles. "But even in his weakened condition from becoming conscious again he can still rip any mortal apart without much effort. Bullets, Shells, Human weapons are useless on his hardened skin. It's only UGS specially made weapons that could pierce his organs and allow him to finally be killed."

The Turtles looked off towards the edge of the city, where they had been told by Seriphor of the military compound holding one of the four Generals of the Legion hostage. Leo turned towards Seriphor and asked. "How did you know all this if you were trapped in the wall with Zerobez himself?" Seriphor sighed and spoke once more. "The information was given to me after the siege on Zerobez's Temple. Once he was captured they gave me the locations of all of the generals of Legion in case Zerobez was to break free so I would be able to know where he was going. In turn I have to contact them as soon as I can as well, the UGS would want to know what is going on."

Leo nodded as he looked out into the distance. They all heard the pilot yell to them. "We'll be over the base in about fifteen minutes. I'm not so sure we'll make it after crossing their territory though because they have a tendency to shoot down anyone overhead." Seriphor yelled. "Just get us to the base camp and we will take care of the rest!" The pilot could only shake his head, as the roar of the engine sounded like a thousand hooves of horses running along a battlefield. Leo knew that the analogy might not be too far off, this was what it was, a War. A war against an evil so old and so powerful that it could rip humankind, and the rest of existence, asunder. Leo wasn't sure how exactly they would be able to defeat Zerobez and his minions, but he knew that so long as he breathed air into his very lungs he would fight for the freedom of all that he could. It was his vow all of his life, to be strong for those who could not.

The plane jerked suddenly, and the pilot waved it off. "No worries, just some turbulence is all!" He yelled. Casey shook his head. "You sure this rust bucket of bolts is going to hold together?" The pilot turned his head a bit and yelled. "Hey dammit, that's my baby you're talking about here Jones. If you think you can fly this thing any better than by all means..." But he was cut off as another sudden jerk caught the plane, and they all stared in the distance as what seemed to be a massive shockwave enveloped a large section of the outskirts of the city.

Seriphor gasped. "Oh no...he's freed the first one. He's freed Curka."

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Denver, Colorado

United States Military Complex

Ten Minutes Ago

"GIVE EM HELL MEN!!" The General of the Marines screamed as the guns, tanks, and heavy weapons all zeroed in on the spot Zerobez was standing and opened fire to their fullest. Shells screamed through the air and hit their target perfectly. Fire enveloped Zerobez as he stood watching the soldiers make their best attempt to stop him. Explosions rocked the walls of the bunker, threatening to tear them from the bolts and concrete holding them together. The military used an impressive array of weapons to attempt to stop Zerobez. The general gave the signal for a cease fire and within a few moments the sounds of the battlefield died down as the soldiers looked for any sign of the intruder.

Unfortunately, it wasn't enough, as a hand shot out of the smoke and flames and beams emerged from it's palm, cutting the tanks in half, explosions ripping from behind the army, the soldiers trapped between the True Evil, and a wall of flames. Zerobez laughed as his eyes glowed in the brightness, demonic laughter vibrating the walls once more with power. Some soldiers scrambled for their lives, other re-opened fire upon the creature known as The True Evil. The bullets bounced off harmlessly, and Zerobez shattered the bones of each and every one with insane speed and power. Within a few seconds every tank and soldier there was decimated, save for one remaining Tiger Tank in the back flank.

Zerobez's evil grin was plastered on his face as the tank fired one desperate shell directly at the spot where he was standing. The monster saw it coming, and caught the shell in mid air. He held it up for a moment, admiring it, before chucking it back to it's owner. The shell hit it's target perfectly, and the tank was rocked back, as Zerobez sped forwards as a blur and grabbed the front of the tanks, using his inhuman demonic strength to pick the tank up and shake it, manically laughing as the soldiers inside fell to the ground. As they tried to stand Zerobez flipped the tank right side up and slammed it down upon their human frames, bodies crunching and bones breaking, over and over until they were nothing but blood spots on the concrete, and the tank was devastated.

Zerobez turned and began walking to the door that would lead him to the underground bunker, he was going to find his Legion, and then destroy both this planet and the UGS. As he walked towards the door it suddenly shut in his face and locked, as noxious gas filled the room. Zerobez watched the room fill with gases and sighed. "This is the best this pathetic planet can come up with? Gas and pitiful bullets?" Zerobez riped his hands into the door, pulling it off the hinges as the gas filled the room and began sweeping into the newly made hole into the halls. "NO ONE WILL STOP ME!" He screamed, as scientists and what remained of the guards scrambled to escape him, only to fall victim to a gruesome death as he passed each and every one of them.

Zerobez walked down the halls, quickly dispersing anyone near him, as guards and scientists attempted to run the opposite direction of where he walked, but found themselves caught between a solid wall and a monsterous killer. As Zerobez neared his hand shot out, and beams incinerated the victims, killing them all brutally. Zerobez looked up at one of the doors. "I can feel you, Curka. You're still there, and still loyal to you're Master." Zerobez ripped this door off the hinges as well, as he walked in and down the stairs, into the darkness below. As he neared the bottom of the stairs, the only illumination was from the Crystal wall holding his soldier captive. It pulsated and glowed as Zerobez grew closer, until the True Evil laid his hand on the wall, and everything began to rumble inside the base, as if an Earthquake was attempting to destroy the land around them.

The wall quickly dispersed and disappeared, leaving only a very confused, grey haired, wild eyed man standing there. He looked bewildered, until he turned and saw Zerobez standing there. "Curka." The True Evil spoke. The man quickly prostrated himself at the feet of Zerobez and spoke in a high pitched tone. "Master" He spoke, kissing Zerobez's feet. To any mortal human he would look like another eccentric scientist off the street, except for the marking which looked like tattoos on his face. They were black lines, three of them, curved at the ends almost into a warped version of an S, with two slashes through them as an X tried to cover the S letter up.

Zerobez lifted his hand to the wild eyed man and he in turn kissed the ring Zerobez had upon his hand. "Master, I had thought you dead. Before they locked me in that infernal wall, rumors had circulated on the infro-visions that you had been killed by some petty soldier named..." Zerobez cut him off. "Seriphor." He sneered. The wild eyed man named Curka nodded. "Yes, Master. Seriphor. Some lower class clown who couldn't defeat our troops let alone Legion or it's Master." Zerobez looked down at Curka with anger at his eyes. "Do not underestimate the Soldier Boy, he's like a Earth Cockroach, doesn't know how to stay dead." Curka laughed, a shrill high pitched laugh. But then stopped and looked around. Confused he spoke. "Where are the others, Master? Jolnah, Xegmar, Jarvis?"

Zerobez motioned for Curka to rise and spoke. "Trapped, as you were, in Crystal Prisons, upon the face of this ugly planet. But no worries my General, we shall free them yet." Curka laughed as he bounced around like a hyperactive child, digging through the wreckage and picking up a few things. He looked up to his Master and spoke. "Shall I leave these people a surprise Master?" He asked, and Zerobez nodded. "Make sure it doesn't take this planet out, we need to free the others...as for this city...I could care less." Curka laughed once more, and he sat, piecing together his tools quickly, chunks of cement, discarded papers, and bullets. Using them quickly he made an odd looking contraption, almost like a gun. He closed his eyes and concentrated as he fed his energy into it, making it a living, breathing bomb. He laughed. "Now now, little boom boom, no jumping the gun yet, my friend. I will tell you when to leave our...little surprise" Laughing insanely, Curka nodded to his Master as they turned and walked out of the bunker, quickly turning and flying off into the sky with speed.

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Seriphor watched as the two small figures flew off into the air from a distance. Realization hit him like a ton of bricks as he yelled to the pilot. "Turn, now, get away from the city! Dammit move now!" But as the pilot turned to flee the city from the air a massive explosion ripped went off, starting at the now desolate Military base and the inferno of the blast spread into the city of Denver. The plane was hit by a massive shockwave and thrown into an air loop, as the pilot struggled to maintain control "Hang the fuck on everyone, we're going down!" He screamed, as the Turtles and their friends grabbed onto anything they could find to hold them steady. Oyuki fell towards the back of the plane until Seriphor reached out and grabbed her, pulling her into his grip and helping guide her hands to the bar he held. "Oyuki! Hang on!" he yelled. She turned to him and yelled "What are you going to do?" Seriphor just looked at her for a moment, then dove out of the plane door, into the air thousands of feet above the now exploding city of Denver Colorado.

Oyuki felt the plane tailspin and hung on as tight as she could, yelling to the others as they braced for an impact. She looked out one of the small windows of the plane and watched a black and silver streak speed by, and suddenly felt the plane being jerked into a slowdown. She hung on for dear life as the plane banked and went straight down, nose aimed at the ground, moving at a blistering speed, and could only watch as her death rushed up to her in the form of the ground below...


End file.
